Any football fan can tell you that the game is won at the line of scrimmage.
The recent dominance of USC probably had less to do with its Heisman candidates at the skill positions and more to do with an offensive line that kept its quarterback and running backs from getting crushed, and a defensive line that consistently decimated its opposition.
All truly great teams are built on the broad shoulders of their linemen. In recent years, UCLA has been unable to get that kind of stellar line play on the defensive side. Last year, three of the four regular starters (defensive end Nikola Dragovic and defensive tackles Kevin Brown and Brigham Harwell) spent time injured, with Brown missing the entire season. Chase Moline, who was initially expected to redshirt, was thrust into a starting defensive tackle position. The consistently overmatched defensive line gave up huge chunks of yards on the ground, rarely providing much more than a speed bump before the opposing running back was into the secondary.
What a difference a year makes. Combine the return of Brown, Dragovic and Harwell to full health with the experience gained by those thrust into line play last year, add in a dose of fresh talent in the form of guys such as Darius Savage and Jerzy Siewierski, and one begins to surmise that opposing running backs are not going to have the quick eight-yard jaunts up the middle that were so typical of UCLA’s games last year.
“We’re older, much wiser, and a lot stronger,” Dragovic said. “We are the backbone of the defense, I think. ... Games are won in the trenches.”
The changes began in the offseason. After a season in which countless linemen went down with various injuries that kept them from playing, conditioning became a priority. Workouts became a must. And shirking became nonexistent.
“We conditioned all offseason,” Dragovic said. “Winter, spring, four times a week at six o’clock in the morning. In the summer, we had 100% turnout at every (voluntary) workout. 99.9% of schools do not have that. ... When coach Dorrell came in (before the 2003 season), he was handing out sweatshirts to the guys who showed up to the workouts. Now he’s handing out an ass-kicking to the guys who don’t show up.”
Despite not yet having played a game, the results of the Bruins’ offseason training can already be seen. In last Saturday’s annual fall scrimmage, the defensive line was dominant, either stuffing running backs and getting penetration into the backfield themselves, or occupying offensive linemen long enough for linebackers to do the same.
How much of that was the skill of the defensive line and how much of it was the youth of the offensive line remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: There is a new attitude among the bigs of the defense.
“We’re playing more as a group,” Harwell said. “We’re playing for each other. We’re doing everything together. I feel a little something different from last year. ... I have faith.”
A big part of that faith might be due to the return of junior Kevin Brown, who established himself as a rising star after his sophomore season, then went down with a high ankle sprain last year that left him out for the entire season. His return, combined with the return of Dragovic, gives the Bruins an almost entirely replenished defensive line.
“Right now, (we do seem rejuvenated),” Dragovic said. “But that’s as long as we stay healthy. Defensive linemen are going to get their share of bumps and bruises. If one of us goes down, our backups are just as important. We’ve got to have guys who can come in and be just as good, if not better.”
This recruiting season, Dorrell made a point of collecting as many talented linemen on both sides of the ball as he could. Of the 22 scholarships Dorrell handed out last year, 14 went to linemen, eight of them defensive. It is safe to say that if one of the starters in the defensive front goes down, there will not be a lack of talent to back him up.
“I think it’s the most line recruits we’ve had at one time,” Brown said. “We’ve got a lot of new talent. It’s a great group. We’ve had time to be together. It’s going to be good chemistry this year.”
At the line positions, chemistry is paramount. Unlike at the skill positions, where talent and athleticism can often overcome a lack of technique, defensive linemen must be technically perfect, and able to instantly read and recognize offensive sets. More than any other position, linemen must be truly experienced to be successful.
“This year, I can go into a game and know exactly what’s going on at all times,” Dragovic said. “There’re only a few things that can happen up front, but you need to know those few things perfectly. Now we’re in a position where we don’t need to even see what’s happening; we just know.”