Spaulding Roundup - Hundley's Contact Lenses, Getting Ready for Cal, and Watching You Left Tackles

Coach Mora was not available for the media today, per the new policy, so instead we get to hear directly from the players.  This might be better, since by the Wednesday practice Coach Mora was starting to sound repetitive, which is not his fault.  There are only so many ways to answer "so are you ready for UC Berkeley's air attack?" "how are you preparing for the Bear Raid?"  "Do you think Bear Raid is a silly name for an offense?"

Thanks to Ed Lewis at BSR.

The most interesting part of Hundley's comments is that he now maintains that he had a problem with his contact lens on Thursday, which contrasts with earlier comments.  Hundley said his eye was blurry and he just needed time for his eye to adjust.  He played the remainder of the game without a contact in his left eye, and they are now bringing extra contacts to all games.

The touchdown run at the end of the game was a designed play.  He mentioned it to Mazzone after the first quarter and they were sitting on the play, and were finally able to run it at that point.  He was also surprised that they used the Fuller pass to Hundley play, as they had prepared it for Nebraska but made it work against Utah.

Going into the Cal game this year, Hundley maintains what happened last year happened last year.  They just need to stay competitive.  Although reporters tried to ask if the Utah game was similar to the Cal game, he said they are not similar but the team is now able to adjust to injuries and schemes and are able to keep playing.

The loss of Torian White did hurt but whoever is next has to come up and get it done.  Whoever is playing this week, Hundley said they need to get in the film room and Hundley will be there with them, helping them understand the reads and preparing for Cal.

The next video is of Anthony Jefferson, thanks to Ryan Kartje,

Jefferson was asked if the six picks by the defense was a statement, and he stated that he didn't even know at that point they were up to six.  He said it was a statement for the whole team.  He played well but there is still plenty for him to work on, such as his angles and tackling.  On the deflected pass that was then intercepted, he knew that ball was tipped and if it went to review, it'd probably go in UCLA's favor.  Obviously Jefferson understands Pac-12 refs and that there are no guarantees that even after review the call will be correct.

Jefferson also talked about how the defense just seems to come out in the second half, and he said the second half is a football game that you have to win. The mentality is that you have to own in what you're doing,  you have to lock it in, shut it down, and understand what is at stake, and it worked against utah.

He complimented Myles Jack, calling him a "jack of all trades" and that he can do it all.  He was nervous when he returned the ball, first yelling at him to go down, and then yelling at him to keep going.

The final video is of the leader of the #barrexam, Anthony Barr. Thanks again to Ryan Kartje, but the video is hard to hear at times.

Anthony Barr, what went wrong last year against Cal? Mr. Barr says that the team committed too many penalties, had too many silly mistakes, and the team has to be more disciplined.  He does believe this team is more mature, and they will take this game seriously.  They remember what happened last year, and they will not overlook this game.

Barr also spends a lot of time scouting the left tackles in the Pac-12, focusing on them in his film study.  While he winds up watching the entire game, he focuses on the left tackle, trying to find something that he can exploit.

Barr also acknowledged that penalties are still a problem.  He echoes Mora's line - he doesn't mind the aggressive ones, he does mind the mental ones, such as false starts and offsides, as they hurt the teams the most.  In order to win games, you have to focus.

In this week's accolades, Eric Kendricks has been named the Lott Impact Trophy player of the week.  He had 13 tackles and one pick last week against Utah.  Anthony Barr has been named the Senior Bowl's senior college player of the week.  He had three tackles for loss and 2 sacks against Utah.

Go Bruins