Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Oregon Ducks 2017

The UCLA Football team returns home to the Rose Bowl to take on the Oregon Ducks Saturday at 1 p.m. PST on the PAC-12 Network. Both teams are looking to rebound from rough conference losses last week. Here’s what to expect from the Ducks.

It was a real “what just happened” kind of weekend for the UCLA Football team. Not only did they lose another conference game, they lost a conference game to Arizona. A team that head coach Jim Mora has owned since he came to Westwood. QB Josh Rosen threw three interceptions against a team that in two previous meetings couldn’t get him to throw one.

The Bruins are at a major crossroads in their 2017 season. They’re 3-3 with an uphill battle to claim bowl eligibility with the toughest part of their schedule yet to be played. The Oregon Ducks have been a shadow of what they were under Chip Kelly. But first year head coach Willie Taggart has all hands on deck headed back towards that image.

Mora needs to right the ship but is Oregon a team the Bruins can knock off or will the 2017 season look even more bleak?

Related Story: UCLA Football: The passing game has taken a step backward

Oregon’s Offense

It feels like RB Royce Freeman has been wearing a Ducks uniform for the better part of a decade. He doesn’t get the love that guys like Saquon Barkley or Derrius Guice garner but so far he’s out-rushing both of them. He’s capable of taking on tacklers in the open field but shows more than enough wiggle to make them miss as well. He doesn’t have breakaway speed but the agility he flashes allows him to be a creative runner. He’s also a very accomplished receiver out of the backfield as evidenced by his 76 career receptions.

Here’s where things get a little tricky for the Ducks. Starting QB Justin Herbert was thought to be lost for a chunk of the season when he broke his collarbone. Just three weeks later he was on the practice field tossing balls to receivers.

If he’s good to go then the Ducks get back one of the young bright stars in the PAC-12 QB machine. Herbert has been commanding this year completing 68% of his passes and averaging 10 yards per attempt. He benefits from a strong running game but he clearly has all the tools to lead the Ducks to the promise land. However all signs point to him being out for this game unless something big changes in the next few days.

When Herbert went down with injury against Cal it was backups Sr. Taylor Alie and Fr. Braxton Burmeister who took over. Alie took the majority of the snaps against Cal while Burmeister got the nod against Washington State after Alie was hurt against Cal in what was a loss. Neither one has been stellar with a combined 1-5 TD to INT ratio over the past three weeks. The coaches seem to be leaning Burmeister’s way but how short is the leash?

On the outside the Ducks are well stocked despite losing Devon Allen and Darren Carrington this past offseason. Carrington was a major blow to an offense that loved his ability to win the 50/50 jump ball and be a weapon in the redzone. Leading receiver Charles Nelson is a jitterbug that the Ducks will use on occasional sweeps and on screens. His athleticism and quickness forces a defense to declare when he’s in motion. With the injury to Herbert the passing game has taken a major step backward but the surprise story of this Ducks WR group is Brenden Schooler who has 15 catches for 193 yards and two scores on the season. Coming into this season Schooler was penciled in as a defensive back and potential starter given his team leading four interceptions in 2016.

The offensive line had a rough outing in 2016 with injury and inexperience. This year the line has been better but like the UCLA Football OL still a work in progress. Where they excel is in the run game and getting a push. Oregon of course heavily utilizes spread concepts in their offense but still run power out of it with pulling guards and downhill, off-tackle runs. They also borrow heavily from the book that seems that be circulating among Bruin opponents, “read-option your way to success”.  If the UCLA Football defense can force long, obvious passing situations they’ll have the Ducks in their most vulnerable state. But they’ll need to be able to create a pass rush or it won’t matter what down and distance they can get Oregon in.

Oregon Defense

It all starts upfront for the Ducks. Last year they played in a 4-3 defense but only after one year new defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt has moved them back into a more flexible 3-4 that allows him to show off what will be a very stout DL for years to come and some of the more exciting LBs in the PAC-12 this year.

The Ducks have received a few boosts via transfer including DT Scott Pagano and DT Malik Young that help shore up a DL group in need of a few more bodies. The depth or the need for more of it was felt most heavily in the interior of the 3-4 where the NT position was being manned by two true freshmen in Austin Faoliu and the mountain that is Jordan Scott.

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The linebacker group is where the star of this defense lives. Troy Dye is a tackling machine using his athleticism as a former safety to seek out ball carriers and bring his 244 pound frame to bear with devastating power. If that last name sounds familiar to UCLA Football fans it should. Dye is the younger brother of former Bruin safety Tony Dye. Jonah Moi provides a pass rush on one end but the Ducks have a number of players they’ll rotate in which has helped them notch 24 sacks on the season so far. Second best in the nation. Take that with a grain of salt though.

11 of the 24 sacks on the season have come against Washington State and Cal where the Ducks racked up four against the Cougars and seven against the Golden Bears. Not quite a consistent rush but they could be in line for a big haul against an improved but shaky UCLA Football OL.

A pass rush is a secondary’s best friend and while the Ducks have been able to get home to QBs the back end of this defense is still vulnerable. They rank 112th out of 130 teams in terms of pass defense and have surrendered 15 touchdown passes halfway through the season. UCLA Football QB Josh Rosen could have his way with this secondary provided the vaunted pass rush doesn’t get home. Freshman CB Thomas Graham is tied for the lead with two interceptions but six different players have at least one.

Final Word

This is going to be a major test for the UCLA Football team. Despite not being the Oregon’s of old, this team has more than enough firepower, especially in the run game, to really stress the UCLA defense. The Bruins have to attack downhill to disrupt as many plays as they can in the backfield. Last week against a read-option heavy offense the Bruins were content to react to Arizona and try to make the play. Clearly that strategy was poorly conceived with disastrous results. Something has to change this week.

Rosen vs. Herbert would have been a masterful QB battle to watch but it looks as though, barring a miracle for the Ducks, Herbert will miss the game. Rosen will be looking to bounce back after a three interception game last week but pressing the issue is what hurts football teams.

Next: UCLA Football: Positional groups, midterm grades

Do the Bruins have a game plan to handle the Ducks and get back to winning football games? Expect a shootout from a UCLA Football offense that will be trying to keep pace with a strong running game and opportunistic defense. However high scoring games haven’t exactly been the Bruins’ best friend this year.