LAS VEGAS — The UCLA football team has bigger things to worry about than its projection on the Pac-12 Conference preseason media poll.

The Bruins were picked to finish sixth in the standings following last year’s nine-win campaign. Big reasons for the middle-of-the-pack slot are the ongoing quarterback battle, with the program’s all-time passing leader Dorian Thompson-Robinson no longer in Westwood, and a defense that allowed more than 400 yards per game in 2022.

“Really, we’re focused on just the season and moving past last season,” preseason all-conference edge rusher Laiatu Latu said Friday at Pac-12 Media Day. “Just to pick up from where we left off. We want to set a tone and to let people know that we’re a different team.”

Speaking for the first time since former defensive coordinator Bill McGovern died from cancer in late May, head coach Chip Kelly and Latu said the team already has plans to honor his memory in the upcoming season.

“We’re going to have a sticker on our helmets and we’re going to talk about that a little bit as a staff,” Kelly said. “I also think the school is going to do something with one of our first couple games.

“Our thoughts go out to Billy’s family. He was an awesome man and it was a difficult situation.”

Latu added that the team has a new workout T-shirt that features a phrase McGovern was known for.

“It says, ‘We can do hard things,’” Latu said. “That was his motto, his personal motto, and his motto for his family. He had it up on the wall in his house just to remind him and his family. Everyone goes through hard times, everyone goes through adversity.”

Once on the main stage to close out Pac-12 Media Day, Kelly’s visible emotions were on display even more:

This time last year, UCLA was tasked with replacing a pair of starting tackles and had questions about the depth of the offensive line. Any doubts were answered when the unit ended the season as a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award given to the top offensive line.

Now, the questions going into the 2023 season are even louder after minor injuries in spring camp depleted a group that returned just two starters in center Duke Clemens and right tackle Garret DiGiorgio. In the second half of camp, the Bruins struggled to field two separate groups of five.

Among those injured personnel was Purdue transfer left guard Spencer Holstege, who eventually returned to the field before the end of camp.

Old Dominion transfer left tackle Khadere Kounta, a likely starter, did not arrive until the summer.

“He’s a big boy,” Clemens said of the 6-foot-6, 310-pound senior.

Meanwhile, there remains uncertainty at right guard where Josh Carlin struggled in the spring.

Through the transfer portal, UCLA also picked up versatile Colorado tackle Jake Wiley, who has experience as a starter at both tackle positions. Wiley has already made an impression on his new teammates in summer workouts.

“That was an easy guy to bring in,” Clemens said. “He understood what it is to come in and work hard.

“When we ask him questions about the playbook, he kind of knew it right away. That’s a good sign.”

As Pac-12 Media Day got underway, UCLA’s official media guide and complete roster was published.

Among the names who were not with the team in the spring, walk-ons not previously revealed or not previously signed in December: freshman defensive back Kanye Clark (Mesa, Ariz.), freshman offensive lineman Jack Clarke (Mira Costa HS), freshman defensive back Joshua Dixon (Harvard-Westlake), freshman defensive back Jordan Hewitt (Loyola HS) and freshman defensive back Marquise Villahermosa (Warren HS).

Watch the entirety of Kelly and the players’ main stage Q&A appearances:

For subscribers, watch the full off-stage interviews with Kelly, Clemens and Latu. They met with reporters in separate 20-minute sessions hours ahead of their main stage appearances on Pac-12 Network.