UCLA Football vs Texas A&M: Defensive Review

Fourth Quarter

The game took a major swing in the fourth quarter. Both the UCLA offense and defense came to life and fought back to get into a position to win the game.

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The defensive line led by Vanderdoes came to life, stuffing the run and applying enough pressure on Knight that he couldn’t set his feet to make accurate throws. We even saw McKinley return to the lineup on one of the final drives of the game despite his groin injury. Wade played hard and helped keep contain on Knight who often looked to escape the pocket.

The linebackers led by Brown were much improved in the fourth quarter and it seemed like UCLA became much more aggressive with their defensive calls late in the game. Brown and Young were all over the place and Young made some big time plays in the run game late to give the offense the ball back.

In the secondary Nate Meadors and Colin Samuel, who saw some limited action, played well and were instrumental in knocking down potential big plays. However Pickett, who came in during the third quarter to replace Goodman, continued his big time play late in the game when he dislodged a would be completion late in the game to force a punt giving UCLA a chance to go down and win the game.

OT Analysis:

The Bruins were able to force the game into overtime but once it got there it seemed like the UCLA defense had spent itself and was unable to force a FG attempt. The Bruins were eventually beat on a read-option play where Knight kept the ball and outran any potential contain by Vanderdoes.

Fourth Quarter Grade: B+
Overtime Grade: C

Next: Final Analysis