LOS ANGELES_UCLA doesn't play Axl Rose and Snoop Dogg songs at earsplitting levels in practice to better familiarize itself with the lyrics.
The Bruins are girding themselves for the noise they will hear at various stadiums throughout the season. Nowhere on their schedule figures to be as loud as Texas A&M's Kyle Field, where a crowd of more than 100,000 is expected for the Aggies' season opener against UCLA on Saturday.
Bruins Coach Jim Mora has favored using music at volumes suited for MTV's "Headbangers Ball" instead of the simulated crowd noise preferred by some of his counterparts.
Ignoring the racket is only part of the team's preparations. Communication between quarterback Josh Rosen and his fellow offensive players will be essential to avoid wayward snaps and false-start penalties.
"It's always important to have a silent count and a couple of changeups when you get in an environment that is pretty extreme so that you can still function," Mora said Tuesday on a conference call of Pac-12 Conference coaches. "We like to have different ways that we can manipulate the count."
UCLA has not played in front of a crowd that reached six figures since a road game against Texas in 2010. But Mora said playing at Oregon's Autzen Stadium, Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium and Washington's Husky Stadium in recent seasons was good preparation for what awaits his team.
"Those crowds are as noisy as you get," Mora said.
Rosen noted that scoring on the first drive on the road against Utah last season helped minimize the impact of the crowd during UCLA's 17-9 victory.
There are only so many degrees of loud, according to Rosen.
"I mean, after like 50,000 (fans) it all sounds the same," Rosen said. "You really don't hear anything."
