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UCLA Football: What we’ve learned through four games

By Jake Mitchell

Sep 23, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; UCLA Bruins offense lines up against the Utah Utes defense in the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 23, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; UCLA Bruins offense lines up against the Utah Utes defense in the fourth quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 16, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Dante Moore (3). Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 16, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Dante Moore (3). Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Dante Moore has the maturity to be great.

For a quarterback, a game like Saturday’s is maddening. On the last offensive drive of the game, he dropped back four times and was sacked three. The time to throw the ball was virtually nonexistent. It’s these kinds of games where you learn what kind of leader a guy is.

Moore was sacked seven times, and he got up, brushed it off, and moved on to the next play seven times. He wasn’t happy about the way the game was going, but he wasn’t finger-pointing or visibly accosting his teammates for missed assignments. He just got up and moved forward.

As mentioned prior, this was the best defense the Bruins will see all year, and that may be by a pretty significant margin.

After Saturday, you can feel pretty confident in the fact that when adversity comes, Moore isn’t going to bail. He’s seen the most pressure he’ll see all year, so everything moving forward is going to feel manageable for the true freshman.

It’s games like Saturday’s that make players better. Iron sharpens iron, and Utah was unrelenting as they came this week.

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