Bruins defense continues transition under Jeff Ulbrich

Linebacker Eric Kendricks has talked about staying true to gap assignments since the first week of the season. Guys get excited or anxious or whatever you want to call it during the heat of a game and leave their gaps to try and make a play. It was an issue in week one, it was an issue last week, and it will likely continue to be an issue against Cal on Saturday.

Last season, UCLA could freelance a bit more on defense. If linebacker Myles Jack was near the ball, he could make the play. There weren’t strict gap assignments to worry about. This season, under first-year defensive coordinator Jeff Ublrich, the defense has continued to adjust to the transition.

“I don’t want to give them an out or myself an out by any means,” Ulbrich said. “But there’s a little bit of a transition when it comes to that, a little bit of growing pains. You’re going from that mentality of, ‘I have to make every play, I’ve got to get to the ball very single time,’ to ‘I’ve got to do my job.’ You see that at times. It’s not a selfish thing. Some of these guys want it so bad, they’re so competitive that at times, they do more than their job. They just try and get to the ball.”

To combat some of these issues, the defense is incorporating more walk-throughs at practice, trying to define the gaps. At some point, though, you can only practice something so much. It’s during the heat of a game where staying true to an assignment begins to get tricky.

“We’re a little bit of a work in progress from that standpoint, but the beauty is they’re starting to truly understand it at a high level,” Ulbrich said. “Whereas before, 75% of the guys are all in and understand it, while 25%, when it gets hot and you get in the moment and it’s competitive and it’s Saturday, you revert to what you’ve always done. Unfortunately that’s a little bit natural at times, but we’re overcoming that more and more every time we go out there. There are glimpses of more and more good stuff. I’m optimistic.”

To be clear, blowing gap assignments isn’t just a Bruins problem. It’s difficult for any defense to stay loyal to a gap instead of letting instincts take over to make a play.

“Since I started playing in sixth grade, we’ve had gaps, and they’ve always been popped,” Kendricks said on Tuesday. “That’s why coaches coach and that’s why we play. Offenses try and expose that, and we have to do our best to stop it.”

The Bruins might not even figure it out this year. If they do, it will be too late in the season to turn around UCLA’s hopes of a national championship. Changing the mindset of a defense isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes time.

“When they get it, it’s going to be hard to deal with,” Ulbrich said. “The beauty of it is that for guys who have dreams of playing at the next level, that’s the training they’re going to need. You can’t play streetball, you can’t play gimme defense in the NFL. It’s very different than a lot of college defenses. … I truly believe when they get it and we’re all on the same page as a defense, we’re going to be very tough to deal with.”

For more Bruin observations, follow Everett Cook on Twitter @everettcook