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UCLA Football: The defense has to find a way to get it together

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 03: Head coach Jim Mora of UCLA Bruins looks on during the first half of a game against the Texas A
PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 03: Head coach Jim Mora of UCLA Bruins looks on during the first half of a game against the Texas A /
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The UCLA Football team had a less-than-stellar outing against the Memphis Tigers and unless they change things, it will only get worse.

Just think, after giving up 560 yards and 48 points to the Memphis Tigers, the UCLA Football team is going to try and find a way to prevent Stanford from doing the same thing next weekend.

Although Stanford is not as offensively explosive as Memphis, the Cardinal have a way of pacing their offense and grinding down opponents. Something they have done to the UCLA Football team the last nine times they have met.

Either way, the UCLA defense is having a tough time right now and it is due to a series of problems.

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Injuries have played a part in their production (or lack thereof) as the Bruins started the game against Memphis without DT Boss Tagaloa, LB Kenny Young and S Jaleel Wadood. To make matters worse for the Bruins, freshman standout DE Jaelan Phillips was injured against Memphis when his ankle got rolled. When your best players are not playing, you are not going to play your best, but this goes beyond missing a few players.

Against Memphis, the Bruins were not fundamentally sound as they missed several tackles, gave up too much space and were getting killed on sweep plays.

The result: allowing Memphis to put 560 yards on the Bruins (398 passing yards and 162 rushing yards).

Considering UCLA gave up 331.5 yards on the ground before the game, it actually a breath of fresh air to see that they only allowed162 yards, but it looks even worse that UCLA, a team know for its pass defense, gave up almost 400 yards in through the air.

With all the injuries, youth was a factor in this game. Whether it was lack of playing time or lack of development, the younger Bruins were just not able to limit the Tigers’ offense and it will take more than a week in practice to fix it.

Next: UCLA-Memphis post game wrap up

As stated above, UCLA has Stanford next and it is well known that Jim Mora has not beaten David Shaw since he took over at UCLA. Despite Stanford’s paced plan of attack, UCLA always seems to find a way to make the Cardinal look like a high-octane offense. Unfortunately, that seems like it could be the case once again.