In a normal game week Bruins usually start their practice on Tuesdays and coach Jim Mora has his weekly press conference on Mondays. However, this game week is a bit different as the Bruins are coming off a bye week. Bruins are starting it off with an afternoon practice today and Coach Mora had his weekly presser earlier this afternoon.
Here is the full video from Coach Mora's presser:
video from UCLA YouTube channel
On whether or not ASU's loss to Oregon changes preparation this week:
I don't think it matters at all really. I think had they won they'd be riding high. The fact they suffered defeat they'll probably be as determined as ever to get back on track. I think regardless of what happens the week before, you just gotta do the best you can to prepare that week going into the game and worry more about yourself than yourself than about the opponent's motivation.
Did ASU's loss expose any defensive holes that weren't as obvious before?
No. I think Oregon is just such an explosive team. You always look at a film and if a play works consistently maybe you try to incorporate it into your gameplan, but you still have to kind of stay true to what you always do. We just get ourselves mentally right physically prepared have a good week of practice have a good gameplan for our kids and go out and cut it loose.What do you see in ASU?
You see a team that's physical, that's explosive, that can make plays on both sides of the ball, that runs well. Their quarterback (Taylor Kelly) is excellent on the move, especially moving out to his right, so you've gotta do an excellent job of keeping him in the pocket. I think they've got three running backs that can all do different things with the football and they're all good players. They're just a solid team.
The new Inside UCLA beat writer - Jack Wang - posted the transcript. Apparently Wang - a Cal alum - doesn't have a mobile phone with a video camera yet. :-) Someone get him a new mobile phone with video camera fast. Kidding Jack, welcome to the beat. Read rest of the transcript here.
We will have blog more updates as info. trickle in from practice today and rest of the week. As I mentioned over the weekend, ASU is basically a must win game for Mora if he wants to make a credible case that the Bruins are showing signs of turning a corner.