Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Oregon State Beavers
Oregon State Defense
Oregon State has a lot of problems on the defensive side of the ball. Their biggest one is injuries. Currently they have eight players that have sustained injuries, with four out for the season and one out indefinitely.
More from Go Joe Bruin
- UCLA Football: It’s time for the nation to meet Dante Moore
- UCLA Football: Where are they ranked heading into week 4
- UCLA Football: Position battle breakdown for Utah showdown
- UCLA vs. Utah: Location, time, prediction, and more
- UCLA Football: Highlights from Chip Kelly’s appearance on the Jim Rome Show
The Oregon State defense also seems to have some fundamental flaws. Tackling is an issue, zone defense is not that great and they can’t seem to match up properly with their opponents.
Luckily, they are playing the UCLA whose offense is having a very hard time getting their game in order.
The Bruins are still trying to establish a run game, which is a good thing despite little production. Any yards they get helps UCLA as OSU is not a great run defense team (with a benign pass rush), so this could be an even matchup.
That will help with their passing game which, when receivers are catching balls, is a very deadly weapon for UCLA. But what if they are not? The Beavers are actually doing a decent job defending the air. They are 5th in conference, only allowing 205.8 passing yards per game.
That is good, but as sketchy as UCLA has been on offense, I could see them “break out” against OSU.