The Bruins travel to Texas to take on the Aggies this week in a big time PAC-12 vs SEC matchup.
The UCLA Football team is 2-2 lifetime against Texas A&M and 12-12-2 vs the SEC. The Bruins are looking to take the lead in both series with a win this Saturday.
The Aggies and Bruins have both made a habit of starting hot recently. Texas A&M has started 5-0 the last two years and have gone 3-1 in season openers under Coach Kevin Sumlin (the only loss was a close 20-17 defeat in his 2012 debut against #9 Florida).
Related Story: Know Your Opponent: UCLA vs Texas A&M
UCLA is 4-0 in season openers under Mora, and the Bruins have started at least 3-0 in each of his first four seasons. In fact, neither coach has lost an out of conference game in the regular season with their current team. What’s going to give? Where will the victory be decided?
Here are my Keys to Victory for UCLA against TAMU this Saturday:
1. Protect Rosen by Running the Ball
It’s no secret what the Aggie’s strength is on defense: it’s uber-talented Defensive Line. Preseason All-American DE Myles Garrett already has 24 sacks and 34.5 TFL’s in only 2 seasons, and his bookend DE Daeshon Hall can also wreak havoc if they are able to pins their ears back against the Bruins.
On the flip side, the Aggies have been terrible against the run in recent years (sound familiar Bruin fans?). They are the only SEC team to have surrendered over 5 yards per carry in each of the last three seasons.
What does that tell you? The Bruins will be doing themselves a favor if they keep the TAMU rushers on their heels with the running game.
If UCLA can run the ball effectively, QB Josh Rosen will have a much easier time slicing into the defense as needed; if UCLA can’t run the ball, he will likely be running for his life.
2. Control the Clock
Guess what: Keys 1 and 2 are related. A strong argument can be made that (after the decimating injuries, of course) that the biggest problem with the Bruin defense last season was the Bruin offense.
After keeping the time of possession deficit to under a minute per game in his first three seasons, Noel Mazzone’s quick strike offense couldn’t stay on the field in 2015.
The UCLA offense was out-possessed by 8 minutes per game last year, and those extra plays further depleted an already thin UCLA defense.
Now that Mazzone is coaching for the other guys, the Bruins would be wise to try and duplicate this phenomena on Saturday. If UCLA can control the ball, they will limit Texas A&M’s quick strike offense and wear down the Aggie defense.
3. Don’t Let Knight Become Hundley
The Bruin offense took a step back in efficiency in 2015, and a big part of that was the absence of true dual-threat QB Brett Hundley.
The desire to take advantage of Rosen’s drop back passing ability (as well as the desire to keep him from getting decapitated) kept Rosen from running last year (37 rushing attempts last year compared to an average of 160 attempts per year for Hundley).
Well, incoming QB Trevor Knight (transfer from Oklahoma) was a highly rated dual-threat QB out of high school and he was also fairly effective running the ball in his three years as a Sooner (853 rushing yards and 5.6 yards per carry).
Mazzone’s read-option offense is at its best with QB that is a running threat. Knight has not shown that he is as accurate as Hundley (57% completions vs 67%) and he is not the imposing runner that Hundley was, but he certainly has the potential to do plenty of damage in Mazzone’s offense. The Bruins will be in for a long day if he does.
Next: How Entitled Is Josh Rosen?
Prediction
UCLA runs the ball effectively and Rosen shines while doing less. The Bruins are able to bottle up Trevor Knight enough, and they spoil Noel Mazzone’s debut.
Final Score: 27-23