UCLA Football vs. Washington State: 3 Keys to Victory

The UCLA Football team is in a tight spot at the moment and it will only get tighter, especially as they travel to Washington State this weekend. Here are the 3 keys to victory for the Bruins over the Cougars.

Things need to improve quickly for the UCLA Football team or their season will be over sooner than later.

At 3-3 on the season, the Bruins have their backs against the wall in the South Division race. It is still possible to win a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game, but with every passing game (and no run game, get it?), UCLA’s chances are dwindling.

So with the Bruins taking on a hot Washington State team, they need to turn the season around right now, or they will be struggling to make a bowl game. Here are the three Keys to Victory for UCLA over Wazzu.

Kill the Head and the Body Will Die

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In their last two games, the Bruins have knocked a quarterback out of the game. It was nothing malicious, just big hits at the right time.

They need to do the same thing with Cougar QB Luke Falk. Now I am not saying or condoning any violent acts on Falk or even suggest the goal is knock him out of the game, but UCLA needs to make him ineffective.

The pass rush needs to turn it up a notch and put pressure on Falk. At the same time, the Bruins in coverage need to be aware of the elusive Wazzu receivers and shut them down. UCLA also needs to check any overly aggressive plays on the ball. The last thing the Bruins need are more penalties which give a yard-collecting team like Washington State easy access to the end zone.

So severely limit Falk and the game becomes easier to win.

Just Get in the End Zone

This one is real simple. Take the ball and run it past the white line as you enter the end zone. It is actually not that hard.

Unfortunately, for the UCLA Football team, it is. There is an imbalance with the force and it is all because UCLA has trouble with play calling and execution. UCLA is doing great at moving the ball down the field on passing plays as QB Josh Rosen is throwing for 319.2 yards per game (3rd in the Pac-12), but UCLA is 10th in the conference in scoring offense as the are only averaging 26.8 points per game.

Aside form the run game, which I will get into shortly, Offensive Coordinator Kennedy Polamalu needs to figure out how he can punch the ball into the end zone, because if the Bruin defense can not limit the Cougar offense, then UCLA is going to have to play major catch-up and touchdowns will be required. That will be very difficult.

Get. The. Run. Game. Going.

The Bruins need to do something. The primary problem with the run is that they need to do it more and more. Polamalu seems to give up on the run if it is not working. In reality, it seems as if the run game is not given a chance to get going.

Against Arizona State, UCLA passed the ball 54 times. They only ran it 23 times. That is right, for a team that desperately needs experience moving the ball on the ground, they ran it less than half as many times as they passed.

Next: UCLA Football: Second Half of the Season Outlook

Also, Rosen got knocked out of last week’s game twice. If he sustains an more injures, the passing game will be in trouble, which means the run game will be heavily relied on. Though Mike Fafaul has experience in the backup role, if Rosen cannot play and Fafaul has a performance like he did against Arizona State, the Bruins are in trouble.