Reggie Carter gives UCLA defense a reason to succeed
UCLA FOOTBALL
The Bruins' leading tackler is starting to take a leadership role with a unit that looked strong against Arizona State and Washington.
With two minutes remaining against Arizona State last week, UCLA junior linebacker Reggie Carter huddled the defense together, alerting them that they were on pace to hold the Sun Devils to the fewest yards since the 1989 Cotton Bowl.
"It was just something to push the guys to finish," said Carter, knowing a 34-9 defeat was looming. "With the game lost, some may hang their heads low because it was all over. But we still had something we could accomplish."
The Bruins (4-7 overall, 3-5 in Pacific 10 Conference play) held the Sun Devils to 122 yards of offense one week after limiting Washington to 135. The strong defensive efforts have given the Bruins a glimmer of hope heading into Saturday's game against No. 5 USC (10-1, 7-1). The Trojans rank 16th in the nation in total offense.
"Reggie is not a big talker but when he does talk, they listen," UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said of the defense's response to Carter. "He's starting to feel more comfortable in a leadership role. I just think he's starting to come into his own now."
Carter leads the Bruins with 76 tackles and has played weak side linebacker after playing in the middle the first two games. Though he would rather play in the middle, he accepted the move after Kyle Bosworth suffered a knee injury Sept. 13 against Brigham Young. Steve Sloan has mostly played in the middle since then.
"If no guy stands out and we play great as a unit, then I'll take it," Carter said. "That's what we've been doing the last couple of weeks."
Medina is a Times staff writer.
mark.medina@latimes.com
