Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE
UCLA scored just 21 points against a Utah Utes defense that has held an opponent under 21 just once through five games, and that came against Northern Colorado in week one of the college football season.
Overall, the UCLA offense has looked flighty, even in games in which they blowout opponents and put up gaudy numbers on that side of the ball.
The Bruin offense needs some major improvement, and it has never been more evident now than it has been all season.
On to the grades …
Quarterback: B
It’s clear that Brett Hundley’s line doesn’t look as fantastic as it has in weeks past. He only threw 22 passes against the Utes and had just one interception while accumulating under 200 yards. Much of that has to do with the playcalling, which seemed highly conservative given Noel Mazzone’s track record.
Of course, Hundley did run for 68 yards off of 15 carries to go along with a rushing touchdown. This, of course, was not by design; instead, Hundley was forced to scramble to save drives for UCLA due to the offensive line’s inability to keep pressure off Hundley for most of the game.
In essence, it was Hundley’s legs that kept the Bruins’ offense afloat, rather than his arm. Not once did Hundley attempt to throw it downfield, and that might’ve been because he was forced to work with a quickly-collapsing pocket.
To be fair, however, Hundley had a lot of time in the pocket on more than one occasion and was far too timid to throw the ball. Although the coverage was air-tight at times on the part of the Utes, it wasn’t as if Hundley hadn’t made such throws before.
Overall, though, Hundley performed well, which is a major confidence boost for the redshirt freshmen coming off his dismal, four-interception performance against the Cal Bears last week.