WATCH: DL Devin Aupiu breaks down impact in UCLA's win over Michigan State
Devin Aupiu came up with one of the significant plays for UCLA in its win over Michigan State. The redshirt defensive lineman forced a fumble on Spartans’ quarterback Aidan Chiles in Saturday’s win.
It was one of the key moments for a UCLA defense that is continuing to make strides under the reworked coaching staff. The end result Saturday was a 38-13 road victory for the Bruins.
The defense is beginning to hit its stride heading into the fourth game under interim head coach Tim Skipper. UCLA has stacked back-to-back wins and the success, especially defensively, has been widespread throughout the group.
“It’s been great,” Aupiu said Tuesday after practice. “It shows that it’s not just one person. Like, who’s ‘the guy,’ I guess you’d say, but it’s all of us. We all put in the same amount of work, we all bust our butt. I feel like it’s great, you know, we all get our shine each and every week.”
Finding familiarity with a new-look system while continuing to build chemistry has been important for UCLA’s defense during its recent turnaround. Fellow defensive lineman Keanu Williams spoke about the growth as of late as well Tuesday, and Aupiu feels the connection has been key.
“Just learning to play with each other, you know, getting closer,” he said. “All that chaos kind of just brought us closer together as players. That’s the one constant was us. Coach coming in and out, so the only thing that we could really rely on was each other.”
Winning solves a lot, and Aupiu feels strongly about the impact of victories on the morale of the Bruins right now.
“We were all in a slump, I guess, but we still kept the same amount of energy as much as we could throughout those first couple weeks,” he said. “But these past weeks have been fun in the locker room. We call them ‘happy Sundays.’ So, it’s been good.”
Watch the full media session with Aupiu following Tuesday’s practice below:
Devin Aupiu post-practice media session (10/14)
Video recorded by BruinBlitz staff writer Tracy McDannald.
