Between the three of them, they have three career starts.
To the three of them, that means nothing.
For UCLA’s projected starting linebackers, Reggie Carter, Christian Taylor and Aaron Whittington, this Saturday’s performance against Utah is the only thing worth caring about.
“People talk about our lack of experience and our problems last season,” Taylor said. “But Saturday is an entirely new season, and people will be surprised.”
Taylor, a former walk-on, is the leader of the Bruins’ revamped defense, as well as the linebacker unit that lost all three of its starters a year ago.
Taylor knows the Bruins are quite undersized and inexperienced at all three positions, but with coach DeWayne Walker’s new defensive attacking style, Taylor is confident the linebackers can overcome that.
“Our job is pretty simple in this defense,” Taylor said. “We have our reads and we find our gaps, and we attack them. There is no waiting involved like (there was) last year.”
This Saturday, Taylor will be helped on the ends by Carter and Whittington, both of whom have shown signs of brilliance during fall camp.
Carter’s performance propelled him from working with the second and third teams at the beginning of camp, to being the projected starter this Saturday.
“It’s all happened so fast,” Carter, who redshirted last season, said. “I can’t say I’m surprised, but I would be lying to you if I told you I expected to be in this position so quickly.”
Carter, who was a highly regarded recruit out of Crenshaw High School, earned the spot over projected starter Eric McNeal. Whittington won his spot due to the suspension of fellow linebacker John Hale as well as his performance in fall camp.
To coach Karl Dorrell, Carter’s performance in fall camp is just a carryover from the effort he showed last year on the scout team, during which he earned the Charles Pike Award for being the most outstanding scout team player.
“He certainly has some talent,” Dorrell said.
“I always liked what Reggie can provide for our football team, and he is certainly showing it now,” he continued.
Carter is out to change the perception people had of last year’s defense, which finished 113th out of 119 NCAA teams in total defense.
“(A) lot of people have the perception that we’re soft,” Carter said. “Well, in Crenshaw, we were always hard-hitting teams, and I’m going to bring that to UCLA.”
This Saturday, that new mentality will certainly be put to the test, as Utah brings its spread, high-powered offense to the Rose Bowl.
In fact, the Utes scored 38 or more points in five of their 12 games last season, and averaged 473 yards per game.
“They certainly won’t be an easy opponent to start off against,” Taylor said. “But we’ll be ready. Playing in the Pac-10, we’re used to seeing high-powered offenses.”
If Taylor is right, the Pac-10 and the rest of the country could see a completely different Bruin linebacker corps this season.