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UCLA Football: Improvements with the Time of Possession

By Mike Regalado

Sep 17, 2016; Provo, UT, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen (3) is chased out of the pocket by Brigham Young Cougars defensive lineman Tomasi Laulile (48) in the first quarter at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Provo, UT, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen (3) is chased out of the pocket by Brigham Young Cougars defensive lineman Tomasi Laulile (48) in the first quarter at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /
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The adaptation of power schemes has helped the UCLA Football team, especially in time of possession.

Last season, the UCLA Football team did not have a good balance between their offense and defense. That led to several problems, including time of possession.

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UCLA’s offense led by former Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone was effective when played at a certain tempo. It also became slightly predictable.

If QB Josh Rosen wasn’t driving the team down field by the speed of light, then the offense was succumbing to several three-and-outs. With the little time the Bruin offense was on the field, that meant the Bruin defense was on the field a lot more. Sometimes twice as long and that tired them out.

Here is the time of possession for UCLA and their opponents in the last three games of 2015:

UCLA 25:21 – Utah 34:39

UCLA 19:59 – USC 40:01

UCLA 21:45 – Nebraska 38:15

Getting tired and worn down is not the way to get wins. UCLA lost their last two games of the season by 19 and 8 as a result. It was not fun.

Now look at the time of possession for the first three game of 2016:

UCLA 33:18 – Texas A&M 26:42

UCLA 33:38 – UNLV 26:22

UCLA 32:02 – BYU 27:58

Do you notice anything? That is right, UCLA has controlled the time of possession in all three of their games.

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WIth new OC Kennedy Polamalu working in power elements and pacing the offense, UCLA is taking the time they need to operate. It has not always worked out, but when it does, the Bruins are eating up a lot of clock.

In their two touchdown drives against BYU, UCLA possessed the ball for 5:41 and 4:16.

Not only does that mean the offense is controlling the game, but the defense is off the field approximately 8-10 minutes less then at the end of last season.

Imagine if they can do that on a consistent basis? Imagine if they can do that on a consistent basis against Stanford?

That is what we will see this weekend. Part of the reason UCLA adopted power schemes was to match up better with teams like Stanford and now we get to see how well it works.

Next: What's Going On with the Running Back Rotation?

And for the sake of avoiding nine loses in a row to Stanford, Bruin fans hope it works. Go Bruins!