The Battleground

By Jon Gold on April 15, 2010 8:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) |

UCLA safety Rahim Moore makes a perfect jump on a pass and swats it out of the air, and his Bruin teammates chase after him in celebration.

Cornerbacks Aaron Hester and Sheldon Price take off like they're bringing back a quick-pick-six, and the only one faster is Daronte Jones...their coach.

Jones and the rest of the UCLA defensive coaching staff hoot and holler as if Moore has just led the Bruins to a Rose Bowl bid, and the offense solemnly heads back to their places, heads hung, the coaches in their ears.

Then the next play, quarterback Kevin Prince finds an open Cory Harkey, and Rick Neuheisel cheers, Norm Chow pumps his fist and you can even see the slightest bunny hop from Bob Palcic.

Welcome to the battleground that is Spaulding Field, where the offense wears white, the defense wears blue, and there's no confusion about which is which.

"It's always that way - you don't have any scouts and we don't play anybody else," Neuheisel said. "It's always offense versus defense. The thing you have to be careful of is you don't create such a schism between the two that you can't bring 'em back when it's time to play Kansas State. But we have to do that.
"That's when I talk about getting close to the edge but not going over."

A few plays later, Moore throws an arm around Prince and pats him on the back, and all is right again.

Until the next play, when they're right back at it.

Moore believes the passion stems from a shared dissatisfaction of recent results, of a 7-6 season following a 4-8 campaign.

"It starts with our hunger," Moore said. "We all know our parts and our roles of being on a championship team. We need this type of intensity. You look at all the great defenses, the great teams - the old Miami, the SC days with LenDale White and those guys - they had that type of intensity."

Moore also is quick to credit the offense for evening the playing field a bit.

In 2009, UCLA ranked 88th in total offense and 32nd in total defense, but with eight returning offensive starters and the loss of several defensive stars, Moore thinks things could be a bit more balanced this year.

"Our offense is so much better," Moore said. "Every time I come out here is like a game. I promise you that. There are so many playmakers. Our level of competition has come up. When I first came here, our offense wasn't clicking. Now it is."