Thursday, November 20, 1997
Strength in silence
FOOTBALL: Strong safety Larry Atkins may be taciturn, but his
prowess on the field speaks for itself
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
Don’t expect Larry Atkins III to gloat over his achievements. In
fact, don’t expect Atkins to say much at all.
Fellow safety Shaun Williams said that Atkins, a junior strong
safety, would much rather be playing video games than doing
interviews. Senior linebacker Brian Willmer agreed that Atkins
isn’t one of the most vocal individuals he’s ever met.
But since his performance is all that really matters, Atkins, in
his first year starting, has established himself as a force on the
football field.
"Larry is a very special guy," Williams said. "Great, great
athlete. I’m happy to be in the same backfield with him. I believe
people are going to be talking about him for a long time, but he
deserves it. He works hard and he goes out there and he performs on
the field."
To say that Atkins only "performs" on the field is an
understatement. At points this season – mainly against Texas and
Oregon State – Atkins has behaved like a one-man wrecking crew.
He leads the team in interceptions (5), fumble recoveries (3)
and blocked kicks (2). He’s also amongst the top in tackles (he
ranks fifth), sacks (third) and tackles for a loss (sixth).
"He’s a different guy off the field than when he puts that
helmet on and walks across the white stripe," Toledo said. "He’s a
great football player. He’s a great athlete. He can jump high, he
can hit you, he can run and he has great hands – you wouldn’t have
witnessed it on that last interception he dropped."
The drop that Toledo spoke of happened late in the second half
against Washington. Husky quarterback Brock Huard was hit on the
play, and his pass ended up looking more like a punt than a
throw.
Atkins, who was called the ‘leather magnet’ because of his early
success with interceptions, had the ball go right through his
hands.
"As I tried to run without the ball, I saw so much daylight and
the first thing I thought was score before I even caught it,"
Atkins said. "That’s one thing I get teased about – not scoring.
The first thing I thought about is ‘I’m going to score this time’
and didn’t think about the ball first."
At least now Atkins has something else to be teased about.
***
Atkins stands in at six feet, four inches and 214 pounds. That
size, and the talent that goes along with it, made people like UCLA
defensive coordinator Rocky Long salivate just thinking about the
possibility of having a Williams/Atkins defensive backfield.
"We anticipated that he was going to have a very good year,"
Long said. "He played quite a bit last year and we could tell he
had some exceptional abilities. We knew that if he stayed healthy
and get to play all the time that he would have a real good year.
Now, I don’t know if we expected it to be as good as it has been,
but we expected a lot of good things out of Larry."
Atkins’ wide ranging abilities have been used to their limit
this season, as Long’s attacking style defense asks a lot out of
everybody.
So Atkins isn’t really sure where on the field he is going to be
next – all that he cares about is being close to where the action
is.
"Me, Shaun and all our safeties, we pretty much do the same
thing," Atkins explained. "One play I could be running to sack the
quarterback. Next play I could be trying to intercept the ball deep
in coverage somewhere or stopping the run. Our roles change
depending on what the offense is trying to do to us."
Against Texas, Atkins made two interceptions – including one he
returned to the Longhorn one-yard line. That set-up a touchdown
which made the score 24-0 Bruins.
But what makes those picks even more amazing is what he told
teammate Jim McElroy right before each interception.
Atkins told the senior wideout that he knew he would get the
ball.
"He went out there and did it," McElroy said. "He caught it and
then he came back and said ‘I’m about to get another one.’ Then he
got another one! I guess that’s how you know Larry is going to be
ready. He’s going to say something to you. You never know when
Larry is ready for a game."
This sixth-sense that allows Atkins to foretell the future is
not only linked to interceptions.
In a defense designed to shutdown the other team and punish the
ball carrier, the ability to sense when the other team is in
trouble is important. Atkins says that he can smell blood.
"You can tell, when a quarterback takes a lot of hits, he gets
kind of tentative and kind of nervous," Atkins explained. "That’s
when you want to really attack him and affect his game. Once you
affect his game, the whole offensive system shuts down."
To say that Atkins is at the top of his game, though, would be
unfair. Every athlete can get better at something with practice,
and Long says that the more playing time that Atkins receives, the
better he gets.
Atkins agrees.
"You always need to work on things," Atkins said. "I need to
work some more on one-on-one coverage. You can always be better at
any part of the game. I could be ahead of where I want to be, or I
could be behind. I really don’t know."
Perhaps his gift to predict interceptions was a fluke, and maybe
he should concentrate on catching the ball before he runs with
it.
But one thing is for sure – Atkins doesn’t need to say much to
have an impact. With his physical talent and abilities, he just
needs to go out on the field an do his thing.