Inconsistency, Penalties, Turnovers, Oh My! UCLA Has Some Things They Need To Take Care Of

Did you see that UCLA game against Colorado? Whew! It sure was exciting. For Colorado fans that is. The Buffaloes were down 17-0 11 minutes into the game. But they fought back. They fought back with the charge of, well, a buffalo. Trailing the entire game from, Colorado had found a way to claw their way back against the Top 25 Bruins. They not only went the distance to tie the game, but force overtime as well. Unfortunately a touchdown run by Brett Hundley put hopes of a upset to rest. Still, if it was not for inconsistency, penalties, turnovers and an overall questionable brand of football, Colorado would be no where near a comeback.

The UCLA Bruins had 14 penalties for 121 yards. This is bad, but it is nothing new. As you can see by the tweet from Jack Wang of the OC Register, it has been an on going problem.

Penalties not only pushed the offense back, but they also nullified incredible plays by the defense. This week, it was Ishmael Adams that was caught being a little too aggressive. On consecutive plays in the second quarter, he intercepted the ball, only after he pushed off on the Colorado receiver. That pass interference gave the Buffaloes 15 extra yards. On the next play, Adams was called for defensive holding, only to cancel out a sweet one-handed interception by Myles Jack. Ten more yards went to the Buffaloes.

It was that kind of day for UCLA. Actually, it has been that kind of season. But is there a reason for this?

That is fine to go full-tilt, but the Bruins must know they are committing penalties in practices.

Now turnovers are a strange thing because UCLA has not a big problem with coughing up the ball, but in the last four games, the Bruins have turned it into a big problem as they gave away the ball over seven times. On six of those giveaways, the Bruin’s opponents capitalized on those mistakes. It would have been seven, but against Colorado, the Buffaloes got the ball down to the UCLA 4-yard line with time ticking down in the half. A Colorado false start killed that chance as the penalty allowed the remaining seconds of the half to expire.

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As for the inconsistencies, well, who knows what is in the mind of the Bruins? Brett Hundley, who has been having a very good season, had one horrible game. Before this last contest, Hundley was leading the nation in pass completion with 72.5%. Against Colorado, Hundley could only connect on 24 of 39 passes (61.5%). Whether it was the air up there in Boulder or just being inconsistent, Hundley had several balls fly over the heads of his receivers which killed drives and lead to several three-and-outs. It was a sight not to see.

But out of all that, the Bruins still managed to get a win in double overtime… to the worst teaming the Pac-12. Needless to say, the Bruins have issues. With Arizona, Washington, USC and Stanford left on the schedule, it will be very tough to “squeak out a win” if inconsistency, penalties, turnovers and the lack of a killer instinct continue to plague UCLA.