UCLA football trades momentum for recovery and restart – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA football team's practice Tuesday morning felt a little happier than usual.

As the music blared from the speakers as always, several players jumped into the air and chest-bumped each other, and then the team let out a loud roar before the stretching period began

Coming home from New Jersey on Saturday with a 35-32 win over Rutgers, it was UCLA's first win since August 31 and their first win in the Big Ten Conference, which certainly made for a more enthusiastic first practice

But head coach DeShaun Foster was by no means ready to call it a flawless victory.

UCLA took a 35-19 lead early in the fourth quarter but allowed two touchdowns, missed a field goal attempt and had a fumble that gave Rutgers a chance to come back and steal the game.

According to Foster, the mistakes at the end of the game came down to his three pillars: discipline, respect and enthusiasm.

“We really didn’t do it the way I wanted. We were able to pick up some points and score, but we didn't finish with the discipline, respect and enthusiasm that I wanted,” Foster said. “But other than that I was pretty happy with the win.”

Fortunately for the Bruins, this week's bye comes at an opportune time and gives the players and coaching staff additional time to fix Saturday's mistakes.

It also gives key players who missed time, like receiver Rico Flores Jr. and offensive tackle Rueben Unije, a chance to get healthy.

“This is a big week for some of the guys who have been missing the last couple of games, so we're just happy we got a bye week when we got it,” Foster said. “And hopefully we can get some guys back, especially in certain positions. So we will come back healthy.”

There is something to be said about the momentum, however, and Foster agreed that jumping straight into another game could provide an extra push to keep the momentum going.

Ultimately, the opportunities to get healthy and work on fixing mistakes are benefits the team needs at this point in the season.

“Going into this week, we had a lot of momentum and we played well,” Foster said. “And then we have to have a bye week now and then get it going again next week. So I think there is something positive on both sides. We might have wanted to move on, but I think there are some things we can work on that can help us.”

Bruins tight end Moliki Matavao, who finished with six receptions for 104 yards in the win over Rutgers, echoed his coach's sentiments.

“We would like to go out and play some games again, but it's also good to get the bodies back but also refine some things,” Matavao said. “It wasn't a perfect game, but there are always things we can work on. We came away with the win, so now we can come here, make some corrections and get ready for next week.”