UCLA Football: Comprehensive Preview of the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Defense

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s be blunt for a moment: Last year’s Nevada team was horrifyingly bad defensively. The Wolf Pack never held an opponent to under 20 points in 2012, and only five times out of 13 did they prevent the opposition from scoring under 30.

But delving deeper into the story reveals a bit of an odd story: The Wolf Pack were generally bottom-15 in rushing yards allowed per game, but were top-50 in passing yards allowed per game. Their opponents often exploited this, too, with a similar trend in opponents’ rushing and passing attempts per game. To bolster this, Nevada actually finished among the top-25 in opponent completion percentage, forcing opposing QBs to complete just under 57 percent of their passing attempts. (This makes sense, given that Nevada had a relatively low sack percentage and sacks earned per game.)

The good thing for the Wolf Pack? They’re changing defensive coordinators, with Scott Hazelton taking over defensive coordinating duties.

Of course, this defense is still pretty bad. Much of the secondary for Nevada’s gone, although the front seven are still intact. (Whether that’s a good or bad thing, given their low sack rate and terrible stats against the run, is up to you.)

Meaning UCLA could have a ball here, with offense being the Bruins’ strength. Sure, Johnathan Franklin’s gone, but against a pretty young secondary (sound familiar?), QB Brett Hundley could look pretty damn good, especially with Shaq Evans, Devin Lucien, Jordan Payton and Devin Fuller all returning to try and prove their worth to this team.

So Nevada’s defense? I wouldn’t sweat it.

Prediction

UCLA destroys Nevada, 52-30.

Nevada will score. Chris Ault or not, this team still has its offensive coordinator and still has Cody Fajardo as its field general. And this UCLA team still has freshmen anchoring its secondary. Sure, UCLA could disrupt Nevada early, but the Wolf Pack will get their points.

So will UCLA, though. The Bruins need to flex their muscle against a defense that could be worse than the worst defense they faced in 2012 in the Arizona Wildcats. With a target on their back this time around, forcing teams to realize they’ll have to cover everyone will go a long way.