Being from Los Angeles, the voice of UCLA, Chris Roberts, is quite familiar with mini sports flags. Lakers fan prop them on their cars with honor, announcing to the world, “Yes, I know Sasha Vujacic’s middle name, and I’m damn proud of it.”
But at one point, Roberts had never seen those flags.
He’d surely seen giant banners, special soda cans, even placemats.
Not flags.
Not until Knoxville.
“Fanatics, just fanatics,” said Roberts of Tennessee Volunteers fans. “That was the first time I’ve ever seen these flags attached to their car. I’d never seen that before. What is that? Oh, they’re talking about Tennessee. They go bananas for the team, it’s a way of life.”
UCLA got its first taste of that life last season, when the Bruins upset the visiting Volunteers 27-24 in overtime. But that was just a nibble.
Now, Neyland Stadium will be shoved down UCLA’s collective throat, a real orange crush.
“Rahim Moore told me he loves road games, even when he was a kid in high school,” Roberts said. “There’s a challenge; everybody is against you. I think each road game is a little bit different. Everybody hates you, but you can take a crowd out of a game by playing better than the home team.”
Last week, UCLA did not let that happen.
The Bruins took care of San Diego State, 33-14, after a rocky start. As the play of the offensive line progressed, though, so did the Bruins.
“The offensive line I thought was really pretty solid from tackle to tackle,” Roberts said. “I like the new guys they’ve got in there, from Xavier Su’a-Filo to Kai. They look strong.”
And with their strength, came the new speed infusion.
Between Johnathan Franklin and Derrick Coleman, UCLA had 144 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
“That’s a bonus, and that’s the recruiting,” Roberts said of the collection of backfield talent. “You’d rather have too many. We know how the successful programs have done that. You have so many of them, you call it tailback du jour. Who steps up is going to play.”