Jim Mora says UCLA is back on track after feeling initial hype

UCLA Coach Jim Mora spent training camp talking down the hype for his football team, saying that the outside expectations weren’t going to be a burden. The Bruins were a popular preseason national champion pick, and quarterback Brett Hundley was in the conversation as a Heisman Trophy candidate. UCLA was all over television and all over pre-season college football news. Still, Mora maintained that his players were only focused on their teammates and their internal expectations.

On Tuesday, Mora backtracked a little, saying that the hype got to his team in the first two games of the season.

“I just think we were tight,” he said after practice. “I think we let the outside expectations become a little bit of a burden to us. I said it after the first game, that we were trying to be too perfect. I still felt it a little during that second game, but then I started to feel it relieve itself a little bit. I feel like we’re back where we need to be, so we’ll see if I’m wrong or right.”

UCLA is 2-0 but didn’t play all that great against Virginia and Memphis. Both scores were closer than they should’ve been, so even with two wins, the Bruins dropped from No. 7 to No. 12 in the coaches’ poll.

Now, the week before their biggest non-conference test of the season, Texas, Mora says UCLA has turned a corner.

“I like where we are at emotionally on a Tuesday,” Mora said. “Now it’s a long ways until Saturday, and we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I feel a focus like I haven’t felt all season, and this is a very focused football team. I think that’s a good sign. We realize that it’s going to take an extra special effort to go down to Texas and getting a win, and I think our guys are willing to do that. I think they’re starting to figure out what it takes on a daily basis for us to achieve our goals. That’s encouraging as a coach.”

Mora insists the burden felt by the team in the first two games had nothing to do with “The Drive”, a television show put on by the Pac-12 network is following the team during the season. The entire premise is trying to capture moments the outside world doesn’t see, so the program shows practices and puts microphones on coaches. Apparently, this hasn’t been a big deal.

“I’ll bet our guys couldn’t even tell you which guys are with ‘The Drive’ and which guys aren’t,” Mora said. “It’s a complete non-entity, and anybody that thinks it’s a distraction or thinks that it’s bothering us has absolutely no idea what ‘The Drive’ is all about. They are so unobtrusive. … I thought it would be a lot more obtrusive. It’s not at all.”

After the win against Memphis, UCLA defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich talked about how winning close games, even against weaker opponents, can be beneficial for a young team learning how to win.

UCLA’s underperformance in the first two games might also have helped the Bruins.

“Knocking us back on track, no, but maybe just refocusing a little bit and getting back to the roots of who we are,” Mora said. “We’re an underdog, that’s who we are. We like it when people doubt us. That helps inspire us.”

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