UCLA Football vs. Stanford 2017: Go Joe Bruin chats with Go Mighty Card
GJB: The Cardinal have a really good secondary, how will they limit Josh Rosen (who has the most passing yards and touchdowns in the nation) and UCLA’s passing game?
GMC: This is the best secondary in the history of Stanford football and quite possibly the best back four in the conference. Cornerbacks Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder and safety Justin Reid are all bound for the NFL, and there are younger defensive backs who are also contributing and look to have similar futures.
USC’s Sam Darnold threw for over 400 yards against them two weeks ago, but that was more a result of having too much time in the pocket and the ability to make perfect throws. Believe it or not, the secondary played well in that game. So again I’m looking forward to this matchup, but I’m guessing the biggest factor that will determine the defense’s effectiveness against Rosen will be the play of the defensive line.
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GJB: Many critics are saying the Stanford D-line has taken a step back. Is this true and if so, does it worry Stanford that UCLA is making improvements in their run game?
GMC: The biggest loss Stanford has endured hasn’t been the departure of McCaffrey, but that of defensive end Solomon Thomas. (Bruin fans might remember his scoop and score to close last season’s Stanford win over UCLA.) He was a dynamic athlete that really couldn’t be blocked, and there was no way he was going to be replaced. Senior Harrison Phillips has done his best, but even his career-best season hasn’t been enough; he simply doesn’t have any help. The rest of the group is undersized and under experienced, two factors which were exposed over the past two weeks.
As poorly as the offense played against San Diego State last week, the Cardinal had a four-point lead with six minutes to play, and the defense wasn’t able to hold the Aztecs on that final possession. That was largely due to SDSU’s obscene time of possession advantage (41:14 to 18:46), but Shaw still chose to call out the defense and not the offense after the game. Behind the line, the linebackers have played fairly well, though perhaps not quite up to the expectations they brought into the season, and they’ll be without one of the starting inside linebackers, Sean Barton, who suffered a potentially season-ending knee injury last week. So this is definitely a concern. If Stanford isn’t able to get consistent pressure on Rosen, this game could be a struggle.