The Improvin’ Bruins: What UCLA Football Has To Strengthen From Last Season

Oct 12, 2013; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora reacts after a penalty call during the first half against the Cal Golden Bears at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

Penalties

Wheteher it is on the offensive side or the defensive side of the ball, UCLA was horrible at limiting penalties. The Bruins ranked dead last in conference for penalties given with 105 that cost them 950 yards throughout the season, which translates to 73.1 yards per game. That is not good. To put it into a larger perspective, in the nation, the Bruins ranked 122 out of 125 teams that gave up penalties.

Needless to say, the Bruins need to tighten up their game and show more discipline in their set-up. What UCLA does not want to do is get pushed back when they are trying to go forward with their up-tempo offense and limit their opposition from getting free yards when the defense is trying to stop that type of momentum. It all has to be reduce severely.

It will be especially important in conference, because UCLA does not want to budge when they go against the top teams in the Pac-12. UCLA had more than double the penalty yards as conference-best Arizona State. UCLA gave up nearly 30 yards more per game than the highly-disciplined two-time conference champion Stanford. If the Bruins want to make a statement in the Pac-12, this is a good place to start.