Walker welcomes defensive challenge

After facing several shotgun-based spread offenses this season, UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker is excited to go against USC’s pro-based attack Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

“You can see a lot of different influences,” Walker said about the Trojans’ offense, which averages 393.3 yards a game. “There’s a little bit of the Tampa Bay influence. You can see some Norv Turner,” he said of the San Francisco offensive coordinator, “plus things that they’ve always done.

“They have a pretty spread-out offense in terms of giving you a lot of different looks with a lot of weapons. We are really going to have to know what we’re doing as far as getting lined up, seeing their formation and understanding what they are trying to do. It’s an NFL package. No question.”

This has been a turnaround season for UCLA’s defense. After giving up 48 touchdowns last year, the Bruins have allowed 23, including only six on the ground, this season.

Walker, who coached with the Washington Redskins and New York Giants before being hired at UCLA, said the Bruins would have a difficult job trying to keep USC’s offense out of the end zone.

“I’ve seen it before, I understand it but you have to defend it,” he said. “That’s going to be the challenge.”

“But we bring an NFL package too.... It’s just a matter of our players being able to adjust and being able to execute the plan.”

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Senior kicker Justin Medlock was selected as a first-team All-American by the American Football Coaches Assn. Medlock is the third UCLA kicker in the last 14 years to earn first-team All-American status, joining Chris Sailer (1997) and Bjorn Merten in 1993.

This season, Medlock has made 24 of 28 field goals, including 14 in a row. He has made all 25 of his point-after-touchdown attempts for a team-high 97 points. But Medlock, second on the school’s all-time field goal list with 66, said the misses stay fresh in his memory.

“It happened my sophomore year against SC and I’m still a little upset,” said Medlock, who leads the nation in field goals per game (2.18) and is 10th in scoring (8.82 points). “Not so much that I missed but how I missed it. I knew right away, it was such a bad kick.”

Medlock missed from 39 yards but made one from 42 in UCLA’s 29-24 loss to USC in 2004.

On Saturday, Medlock is looking forward to getting more chances against the Trojans in his final game at the Rose Bowl.

“It’s going to be a special.... it’s SC,” said Medlock. “I’m not trying to make the game any bigger, but that’s hard not to do.

“You can’t help but get a little hyped for the game.”

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Coach Karl Dorrell on USC’s offense this season compared with recent years: “They’re still pretty explosive.”

“It’s a familiar theme with what they’ve been doing,” Dorrell said. “Different guys but they are getting the same type of results. It’s a great challenge for our team.”

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Defensive tackle Chase Moline sat out his second consecutive practice because of back spasms and his status for Saturday’s game is uncertain.... In the battle for the Lexus Gauntlet, a head-to-head all-sports competition between the schools, UCLA leads, 20-5, heading into Saturday’s football game. The winner will receive 10 points. In the five years since it began, the schools have alternated winning the trophy with USC holding a 3-2 edge after winning in 2005-06.

lonnie.white@latimes.com