In Reply to: Lynn was overrated posted by Dr.Bruin on June 21, 2024 at 15:15:17
I'm not going to contest any of your conclusions. It's nice to read a clear, strong take occasionally 🙂
I have a couple of things I'd like to add, however.
I don't think it's adequately appreciated how well conditioned Ucla was last year. Keith Belton really emphasized an intense running regimen during the summer. Stuff like the OL had to run 6 53 and a 3rd yard sprints in 62 seconds. (53 and a 3rd is the width of the football field.) Then do 9 more of those. This is after the lifting part is the workout. The next week, gotta do it in 60 seconds. Etc.
Guys like Muasau were NOTICEABLY leaner and faster. The Murphys were in much better shape. And that 10% better shape was the difference between sacking Celeb in Nov 2023 and letting him get away in Nov 2022.
Also, Ucla's form tackling technique was excellent last year. There were very few targeting calls. And relatively few missed tackles, compared to prior years.
This spring, Jaylin Davies looked like a body builder. Not in a bad way at all. Still moved great. A lot of the linebackers were pretty ripped. The gains of the s&c program (combined wth the nutrition program and the recovery program) compound over time. Ideally, hopefully, the returning guys are 5 to 10% better this year than they were last year... guys like kain and femi, etc.
Re ASU... 1st off, I was so impressed with Kenny Dillingham's game plan. In his post game presser, he admitted that once he got a look at Ucla's "fire breathing dragons" DL watching film, he quickly realized that his dilapidated OL stood no chance of winning a conventional war with Ucla. So he had to fight like an insurgent. Stick and move. Don't get boxed in.
Chip mentioned in his post game that asu had shown the "swinging gate" formation in a prior game, so Ucla did prepare for it. Ucla did line up effectively v the formation, but once asu turned the game into a 5 v 5 scrimmage, there wasn't much Ucla's d could do.
Ucla held asu to 17 points, I think. So the d performed well. But the strategy asu used was perfect. Ucla was inept on o. So that allowed asu to stay with that game plan and just eat up the clock. I blame the o for the loss, not the d.