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UCLA Football: Can the 2017 Bruins be tough again?

By Michael Chavez

PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins stands with his team prior to a game against the Washington State Cougars at Rose Bowl on November 14, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins stands with his team prior to a game against the Washington State Cougars at Rose Bowl on November 14, 2015 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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The beginning of the Jim Mora era was also the ushering in of a tougher, more physical UCLA Football team. That edge has dulled in the past few seasons. Can the Bruins resharpen it?

Just think about what entered your mind when you saw the UCLA Football Bruins in their first year under Jim Mora take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Fans, media and coaches had come to think of the Bruins as a try hard team that often didn’t have the bite to match their bark. They weren’t the best athletes and survived on grit more than a combination of talent and gusto. That grit was often, and it felt like on the biggest stages, overcome by superior coaching and talent.

When the Bruins took the field against Nebraska 2012 I wasn’t sure what to think of this team. Yes they had a young rising star in QB Brett Hundley but he was inexperienced and I was concerned that the defense would be worn down by the bulk and strength of the Huskers.

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Boy was I glad to eat that concern.

That UCLA Football team came out and was more physically aggressive than I could recall in my lifetime and that fight eventually led them to a victory late in the game.

That fight, that aggressiveness seemed to wane in the past few seasons and reached a critical low in the loss to Cal to wrap up the season last year. Those Bruins looked defeated, uninspired and seemed to mail in the loss.

It was a far cry from what I had seen that day in 2012 and made me feel even more concerned for the future of this team.

With 2017 just a stone’s throw away we have to ask, “Is this team ready to fight?”.

The Aggies aren’t the physically dominant team that those Huskers were but they will run and they will hit and if the Bruins aren’t ready they’ll get hit in the mouth. Perhaps that’s exactly what they need.

Sometimes getting that first hit out of the way allows you to play without hesitation and reservation.

The schedule will give these Bruins a trial by fire but if they can return to that aggressive form they may be able to force some early season mistakes from their opponents.

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These UCLA Football Bruins might be just as talented, especially on the defense, as that 2012 team. Can they recapture that magic? Their season may depend on it.