UCLA Football vs Arizona: Position Group Report Card
Here is the Go Joe Bruin Position Group Report Card for UCLA Football after their 56-30 win over Arizona.
Quarterbacks: A-
Sep 26, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora congratulates quarterback Josh Rosen (3) after a touchdown during the third quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. UCLA won 56-30. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
So it looks like Josh Rosen was plenty comfortable with the offensive game against Arizona. He threw for 284 yards and 2 touchdowns. He even managed to sneak in a quarterback keeper late in the game.
With the help of both the offensive line and do-it-all running back Paul Perkins taking the weight of the run game, Rosen was able to move the ball around with ease and looked a lot better than his performance against BYU.
Running Backs: A-
Would you believe me if I told you Paul Perkins ran for 200 yards against Arizona? It felt that way, especially with him running to the side of the field and trekking forward, after getting hit in the backfield.
It seems like that but in fact, he only had 85 rushing yards. That is not to take away from his 3-touchdown performance, but for the most part, UCLA was not able to get their ground game moving as well as in weeks past, although they continued to get support from Nate Starks (1 touchdown) and Soso Jamabo (team-high 96 rushing yards, 1 touchdown).
Receivers: A
Sep 26, 2015; Tucson, AZ, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Jordan Payton (9) looks to the sideline during the fourth quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. UCLA won 56-30. Mandatory Credit: Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
Jordan Payton and Thomas Duarte had a field day against Arizona. If it wasn’t Payton squeezing in between defenders to make the play it was Duarte making one-handed touchdown catches… again! Both had one TD each, yet Payton topped all with 136 receiving yards.
The Bruins even got some work out of a few guys that are not usually called upon as Kenny Walker, Tyler Scott and Darren Andrews made prominent and productive cameos in this game.
Offensive Line: B+
As good as the offensive line was, they were also pretty bad on several plays. The Arizona rush was able to get into the backfield and disrupt the UCLA running game, though to their dismay, Perkins almost always found a way to get away format he defense.
The Bruins always seemed clogged up on the line making the UCLA’s run game not as effective in games past. Still, they gave Rosen a lot of time and got the Bruins down the field with ease on most plays.
Defensive Line: B-
UCLA Bruins
So Arizona’s running QB Anu Solomon goes out and his back-up Jerrard Randall is the one that runs all over the Bruins. As bad as they were at times, they managed to create some huge holes that tanks could roll through. Arizona finished with 353 rushing yards.
UCLA’s D-line could not seem to pick up which direction Arizona’s plays were going and often allowed the Wildcats tons of open space just beyond the line of scrimmage. The only good thing about the Wildcats racking up a lot of rushing yards was that they could not turn it into points.
Linebackers: A-
Once again the linebacking crew stepped up and made themselves known all over the field. Jayon Brown and Isaako Savaiinaea were once again solid for the Bruins and were active all night, leading the linebackers in tackles.
Deon Hollins also had some big plays despite only recording one tackle. With several bad snaps by the Wildcats, Hollins was able to charge in and take back two of those fumbles for the Bruins.
Defensive Backs: A
This group had the biggest task of anyone, especially with several players playing out of their positions. Because of injuries to Myles Jack and Fabian Moreau, the secondary and the nickel had new participants from a week ago.
Jack was replaced by Ishmael Adams, Moreasu by Randall Goforth and Goforth (usually at safety) by Tahaan Goodman. Despite the mixing and matching, UCLA held off the Wildct passing game s they only allowed 115 points through the air.
Special Teams: A
For not really being needed, special teams was once again solid in all phases of the game… when they actually did do stuff. Devin Fuller was great on returns and was two defenders away from scoring on one a kick return that eventually went 42 yards. Though the were not needed, special teams did what they had to.