The Bruins have mostly dodged injury at the position; Charbonnet reportedly continues to make progress.
UCLA football faces nine opponents on its Pac-12 schedule, but there’s one invisible adversary always lurking: injury. The Bruins have had a fairly healthy season so far, with Zach Charbonnet’s absence from the UCLA-Arizona State game the most noticeable instance of a missing player this season.
But even without him, the rushing attack kept chugging along to surpass 400 yards in the game. “When you lose anybody like Zach, that’s a big blow to a football team,” coach Chip Kelly said. “I talk about how competitors respond. I think our offensive side of the ball really responded when they knew that Zach wasn’t gonna play.” It’s unclear whether the usual running back corps will bounce back this weekend against Arizona. Charbonnet practiced this week with tape on his left lower bicep and left calf and Kelly said he’s “coming along.” Keegan Jones also appeared to practice as usual on Wednesday and DeShun Murrell practiced, but with a heavily-taped left hand. A 2021 study by the NCAA that analyzed the amount of regular-season games in a top-10 NFL draft pick’s career found that running backs had the fourth-shortest careers out of all positions with 41.13 regular season games. While correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, the data does give reason for a college program to make decisions that get as much mileage out of a running back as possible, not just in a season but in a lifetime. UCLA is doing what it can to get the most out of the position as the season wears on. They’ve gotten longevity at running back through a variety of players as well as individual player management. Kazmeir Allen, who is usually a receiver, jumped in at running back against Arizona State. He had previous experience at the position, but Colson Yankoff, who was previously a quarterback and receiver, did not until this season. “I think it’s going to be a work in progress, but I feel way more comfortable than I did weeks ago,” Yankoff, a redshirt junior said. “I’m learning to read blocks better, understanding the scene up front a little better. Things like that.” There is no tackling to the ground at practices, even though players will wear full pads some days. Kelly uses the NFL as a model for UCLA’s practices, emphasizing timing and execution as opposed to contact, which can prevent injuries big and small. “You lose the fact that you get to tackle on defense and you don’t get to break tackles on offense until game time,” said quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. “But just keeping guys fresh and making sure everybody’s staying safe.”
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