UCLA Football Loses To Baylor: By The Numbers – Defense

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports

For our By The Numbers post on UCLA’s offense vs. Baylor, GO HERE.

MORE NUMBERS! Here are some key numbers from UCLA’s debacle of a performance against Baylor in the Holiday Bowl.

35:30.

Baylor’s time of possession, compared to UCLA’s 24:30. The Bruins’ defense had trouble getting off the field early and long drives and big plays forced the defense to get gassed, although the unit looked it as soon as the game started as well.

Baylor also converted six of 14 third downs to further the time of possession advantage they received, which was also contributed to by their defense.

337.

The number of rushing yards UCLA allowed against the Bears. Baylor did run the ball a ridiculous 67 times, but UCLA allowed an average of 4.6 yards per carry, while also allowing five rushing touchdowns.

The Bruins had no answer for the speed of Baylor running backs Glasco Martin or Lache Seastrunk, who combined for 239 yards off of 37 carries and four touchdowns, while UCLA’s front-seven was thrown off consistently by QB Nick Florence’s fake hand-offs.

4.

The number of turnovers UCLA forced, compared to the Bruins’ turnover-free game. Turnovers were widely considered to be the most important aspect of this game, with both teams being largely opportunistic in their takeaways.

That didn’t matter, though, and Baylor’s four fumbles proved to have no impact on the game.

30.

The number of run plays Baylor ran on first down on 37 tries. This, of course, is less of a defensive stat and more of a play-calling one. To contrast this, UCLA ran the ball just 12 times out of 30 first downs.