Kirschke Transforms His Game

Dr. Jekyll had a Sunday off from the laboratory because Mr. Hyde hadn’t played football on Saturday.

UCLA didn’t have a game last weekend, so the VCR in Anaheim got a rest. And so did the psyche, because nobody is tougher on Travis Kirschke than Travis Kirschke.

His Sundays are spent watching Saturday’s game, taped from telecasts by his father, Gary. At 6 feet 4, Travis stands tall. His mistakes stand taller, at least in his eyes.

“I’m real hard on myself,” he said. “To me, I don’t think I’ve played one good game.”

Actually, he’s played several, two already this year. Kirschke has made nine tackles, three for losses, and has stood out at defensive end, displaying a verve that he hasn’t showed in the previous two seasons, since he was a freshman, playing in the Rose Bowl for the Bruins.

He’s always been something of a paradox, a passive man on a massive frame until he steps onto a playing field. Then he undergoes a transformation, from a soft-spoken, easy-going behemoth to 282 pounds of troublesome defensive end. From Jekyll to Hyde.

“I think he has a streak of meanness in him,” defensive line coach Terry Tumey said. “You can tell by the ferocity of his play. His movements don’t come from being a nice guy.”

The meanness is latent, until the whistle blows.

“I like to consider myself a different person on the football field,” Kirschke said. “You have to be. You can’t be a soft-spoken person on the field because you’ll just get killed. I think I turn off my niceness on the field and turn on my mean.”

That’s easier to do this season. After a year of learning and excelling, and two more of treading water, he has caught a lifeline from defensive coordinator Rocky Long, who has installed a system in which linemen don’t just take up time and space, sacrificing themselves so linebackers and defensive backs can make big plays.

“We’re attacking now,” Kirschke said.

“It’s such a dynamic defense,” Tumey said. “For a defensive lineman, instead of being a reader, just kind of taking the blow, he becomes more of a factor in the defense, making some tackles for losses, getting more hurries, pressures on the passer, ultimately get a sack of two. That’s like a touchdown for a defensive lineman.”

Kirschke had been one of the country’s most sought-after recruits, the California high school player of the year who made a recruiting trip to UCLA, another to Washington just for something to compare, and then called assistant Bob Field and then-coach Terry Donahue while they were at another recruit’s house, asking them to drop by and get his commitment.

Kirschke got immediate playing time, started one game as a freshman and played all but one defensive series in the Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. It could only get better.

Since then, he has wandered, though, playing well in spots, not as well in others while he dealt with nagging hip and ankle injuries.

“I didn’t sense Travis was stagnant, but I sensed that the kind of defenses we were playing, and because of a kid playing a long time at that position, there was a little wear and tear on the body a little bit,” Tumey said. “That comes from taking on those double-teams, which is about 800 pounds of force at you, day in and day out, play after play.”

There have been some miserable Sundays in front of the VCR.

“I’ve gotten down on myself, just because I haven’t done what I’ve wanted to since I’ve been here,” Kirschke said. “I’ve played not bad, but not great, just kind of playing. That’s how I feel about myself. I get down on myself, just because I feel I can play better.”

Maybe he’s been a little too hard on himself.

“A big reason has been the injuries,” Tumey said. “He’s had such an up-and-down career because of nagging injuries that have made him not perform to the best of his ability. I think with a year like he’s having so far, continued acceleration . . . he’s going to be happier with it.”

That year began with the defensive switch, to end, and with an attitude switch, to being positive and aggressive.

“We’ve had that in terms of our whole team, that we try to finesse teams instead of playing them physically,” Kirschke said. “That has definitely been one of our goals this year, to be more physical, to punish teams.

“Our coach [Long] uses the term to try to get to the ball on the edge of insanity, to be crazy. You just want to kill the person when you get there, well, punish the person, I guess. A lot of big plays happen that way, when you get 11 guys around a guy and a couple of guys make a tackle and others strip the ball.”

A summer with strength coach Kevin Yoxall has built speed and trimmed body fat.

“I have learned that you can’t dwell on the past,” Kirschke said. “I’ve still got a whole year here and I’ve still got a chance. I can play hard all year this year and make up for some of that.”