LOS ANGELES — Jim Mora is a routine-oriented coach. From early-morning practices to team dinners by 6 p.m. the day before games, the UCLA coach has tried to create a consistent environment in which his players and coaches are comfortable.
Facing the daunting task of playing the second of consecutive road games on a short week, the Bruins (4-4, 2-3 Pac-12) were forced to shake up their routine. After traveling to Seattle last weekend, they have a six-day turnaround for a game in Salt Lake City against Utah at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Back-to-back road games on short rest have been a treacherous scheduling quirk for Pac-12 teams recently. Since the beginning of 2016, Pac-12 road teams playing on a Friday after playing the previous game on the road Saturday are 0-5.
“It’s just a mindset,” Mora said of getting through the short week. “And these guys are resilient.”
The coaching staff adjusted UCLA’s practice schedule to suit the shortened week. The Bruins practiced Monday evening instead of their typical Monday morning to give players more time to recover from Saturday’s game. The one night practice rippled through the rest of the week.
The coaches fit the same number of practices in during the week, but defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said they didn’t get as much time to digest last week’s game film before moving onto the game plan for Utah.
“Everything’s just amped up trying to get it done sooner,” he said.
UCLA didn’t need another reason to struggle on the road. The Bruins have already lost their past eight games away from the Rose Bowl and don’t have a conference road win since Nov. 21, 2015, when they knocked off then-No. 18 Utah 17-9 in Salt Lake City.
“You’ve got to go, play good special teams, got to communicate and that’s what it really comes down to,” center Scott Quessenberry said of winning on the road. “If you can play good special teams and not give up good field position and if you can take away good field position on big returns or blocks and if you can communicate and go to the right guys and find running lanes and be really efficient on first down, second down and then moving the chains on third down, that’s the recipe for a win.”
Utah boasts some of the best special teams in the country. Of Ray Guy Award-winning punter Mitch Wishnowsky’s 30 punts this year, only one has been returned. It went for minus-1 yard. The Utes are second in the country in net punting with 44.3 net yards per punt. Also, kicker Matt Gay leads the nation in field goals made with 2.38 per game.
