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SALT LAKE CITY — The No. 12 UCLA Bruins travel to Salt Lake City Thursday to open up Pac-12 play against Utah after a commanding 3-0 start to the season. And while the national ranking and overall improved play by the team is encouraging, head coach Jim Mora understands the difficult task ahead of him.
"Our focus going into this game is we know we're going into a hostile environment. We're playing an excellent football team that's big and tough and physical and disciplined and that's having a lot of success this year," Mora said. "But we're excited about that challenge.
"I think when you're a competitor, these are the things you kind of like," Mora added. "You want to measure yourself against the best; you want to measure yourself in a tough environment. You don't always want it easy. And so we're excited to go out there and compete against a very good Utah team. It's gonna be a heck of a football game. I think we're going to enjoy it; they're going to enjoy it."
Although the Bruins have a decent resume coming into Thursday's game — beating then-No. 23 Nebraska 41-21 — the team has won only one of their last five conference openers, with their last win coming against Oregon State in 2011. However, the Bruins feature one of the nation's best quarterbacks in sophomore Brett Hundley, who is a threat in the pocket, but also elusive against defenders.
In my opinion, they play with a lot of class. In my opinion, we play with a lot of class. You get two hard-nosed, tough, disciplined, yet classy football teams playing against each other. That's a good game to play in; that's a game to watch.
–Jim Mora
"Anytime you face Brett Hundley there's carryover because he's so good at everything. He's big and he's physical. He can stand in there and throw it, he can get out of the pocket and throw it, he can run," Mora said. "I think it's great for our players to have to go against Brett because, in my opinion, he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country."
On the season, Hundley is 61 of 92 passing for 848 yards and eight touchdowns. He has added 157 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Although Hundley is a viable threat, Mora said he's impressed with the discipline and toughness of a good Utah team.
"In my opinion, they play with a lot of class. In my opinion, we play with a lot of class. You get two hard-nosed, tough, disciplined, yet classy football teams playing against each other. That's a good game to play in; that's a game to watch," Mora said. "The nation's watching, it's a night game, so your anticipation builds through the day. It's fun and it's always fun to play against great competition like we've got this week."
Mora credits the hiring of former Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson as one of the biggest factors in Utah's success this season, particularly with his success with sophomore quarterback Travis Wilson.
"Dennis is a good football mind and very good at exploiting what he sees as a weakness in the teams that he's playing. I think you're seeing big plays coming out of the offense," Mora said. "I think you're seeing a quarterback that is very efficient. I think Dennis has his hand prints all over that.
"You still see Kyle, you still see discipline, you see toughness, you see ball control, you see a team that doesn't make mistakes and hurt itself," Mora added. "I've been very, very impressed with them — very, very impressed with what they're doing. It's a real stiff challenge for us this week and we're excited to go up there and play the game."
