LOS ANGELES – Until last weekend’s Pacific Northwest trip, UCLA’s defense had been struggling to force turnovers.
In October, the Bruins had come up with just four. Then the floodgates appeared to open.
At last-place Oregon State, UCLA forced four, all of them coming in the first half, including three interceptions of freshman quarterback Nick Mitchell, equaling the mark from their previous month.
“From the tendencies we saw, we could easily go and jump it,” junior outside linebacker Deon Hollins said. “And that’s the big thing about playing defense. When you’re playing fast instead of waiting, the turnovers and good things will happen.