The UCLA Football team has three really good running backs, unfortunately they have not been used to their potential. With the Bruins facing a weak Arizona run defense, Offensive Coordinator Kennedy Polamalu needs to find a way to unleash his trio of backs.
For the last two seasons, the UCLA Football team did not have a worry about the running game. The Bruins had Paul Perkins who was the top PAC-12 rusher in 2014 and despite an injury, was the 4th best back in 2015 with 103.3 yards per game.
With Perkins off to the NFL, there was hope that Nate Starks, Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olorunfunmi would individually or collectively take over.
That has not happened yet. Jamabo leads the team with only 66.0 ypg, Olorunfunmi with 33.5 and Starks with 31.5. Needless to say, these numbers are not striking fear into the hearts of Bruin opponents. UCLA’s last two games were proof of that.
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Agaisnt BYU, UCLA only rushed for 50 yards. Agaisnt Stanford, they only acheved 77 yards on the ground. Currently, UCLA is last in the conference with 117.8 yard per game.
To put it into perspective, Washington State, who is 11th in the PAC-12 in rushing, has ran the ball 67 times less than the Bruins and are out gaining the Bruins by four more yards per game. UCLA cannot be happy knowing that.
Well it is a good the Bruins face an Arizona team that is allowing 198.2 yards on the ground. Maybe its just me, but it seems as though the Bruins should start sharpening their claws in preparation to attack the front seven of this Wildcat defense.
With Arizona being so depleted, the Bruins should take this opportunity to let their three talented backs loose. On top of that, they need to keep Arizona guessing and run a variety of plays on the ground, which the Bruin backs can more than handle.
Jamabo needs to be put in situations where he can cut to the outside and get yards down the line. Olorunfunmi should be in the game when the Bruins want to establish a run game up the middle. And even though Starks is still finding his footing, he should be given a handful of carries to try and break out of his funk.
The time to attack is now. Josh Rosen will handle the passing game and continue to carve up secondaries (he is averaging 291.3 ypg). That means the “Three-Headed Monster” (my nickname for the running backs in the summer) must come alive and devour the weakened Arizona defense.
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If they do that, this game could be a jumping off point for the Bruins in mastering Polamalu’s system. If they do not, then maybe the coaching staff needs to re-assess the entire running game. Let us hope it is the former.