The UCLA Football Bruins are heading into a major showdown with a northern PAC-12 rival. While there will be plenty of great action to see on Saturday, here are two battles we think you should keep a close eye on.
Football is a team sport. Perhaps the greatest team sport there is. You need strength on both sides of the ball and in all three phases to be a really good team. There have been some teams that can outscore opponents and viable defenses be damned. This is pretty much the running joke of all Big 12 teams. Other teams, like a couple in the SEC can barely muster 10 points but will squeeze the life out of opposing offenses. The UCLA Football team isn’t capable of laying claim to either one of those at this point.
The Bruins are averaging 38 points a game and they are still 3-3 overall and 1-2 in PAC-12 play. Why? Well with a defense that gives up an average of 40.5 points a game the odds are going to be against you.
While football is such a great team sport we also have to acknowledge the fact that sometimes a guy just takes over a game or wrecks someone’s game plan almost solo. In the three UCLA Football losses those guys would probably be Memphis’ WR Andrew Miller, Stanford’s RB Bryce Love and Arizona’s Khalil Tate.
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The Bruins will be facing an Oregon team that has a more than their fare share on Saturday and if they aren’t careful the Ducks could spoil a return to the Rose Bowl and a chance to recover from Arizona.
Now don’t get me wrong. It isn’t like the Bruins don’t have some studs of their own who are capable of taking over a game and they get a healthy Jaelan Phillips back to bolster their defensive line. Still, this piece is taking a look at three potential game wreckers for the Ducks and which UCLA Football player will be responsible for keeping them in check.
Kenny Young vs. Royce Freeman
Obvious isn’t it? Yeah I know this is one everyone will think of but let me explain to you why it’s so important. Kenny Young is UCLA’s second leading tackler and thinks of himself as a leader of the defense. Young took the loss personally and made it clear he thought guys didn’t bring their A-game. You can best believe he’s going to make it his business to slow down one of the PAC-12’s better running backs.
Royce Freeman comes into this game with 797 yards rushing and 10 scores on the ground. Even against a strong run defense you’d still look to get him plenty of touches. A strong run defense this team is not. The UCLA Football defense is giving up an average of 313 yards a game on the ground and 6.6 yards per carry. That has to get Freeman licking his chops.
The Oregon offensive line’s strength is in their run blocking. Unless the Bruins gets stellar play from their DL Young will need to be ready to fill gaps to keep Freeman from getting his 230 pound frame into the secondary.
If the Bruins have any hope of winning this game they’ll need to slow Freeman. A task I’m sure Young is fired up for.
UCLA interior OL vs. Jordan Scott
If Scott’s name doesn’t jump out at you don’t worry it’s just a matter of time before he’s talked about as one of the most physically stout defensive tackles in the country. A three-star recruit, Scott had offers from schools all over the country including from the SEC.
Watch a few snaps from him this season and you’ll see why. His size, strength, agility and ability to anchor vs. the double team have Oregon coaches singing his praises. Watch the first drive against ASU below and you’ll see a guy who not only can move well for a 330 pounder but watch him forklift the interior of the ASU OL.
He’s a game wrecker in the interior of the DL who can collapse the pocket or simply toss offensive linemen out of his way in order to make a huge tackle. The interior of this UCLA Football offensive line has been much improved in it’s play from 2016 where it could hardly slow down teams on their way to the QB. This year behind center Scott Quessenberry, LG Najee Torjan and RG Michael Alves Rosen has been given more time to throw, step up into the pocket and the running game has been more successful, although it still needs to improve.
UCLA wants to establish the line of scrimmage and the run game. Both will be difficult to come by if they don’t have a plan to neutralize Scott. Double teaming the nose tackle is standard procedure but when Scott gets his opportunities I’m willing to bet he will look to toss one of the Bruins inside. The fastest way to the QB isn’t around the edges but through the middle of the line and it is traditionally the best way to make a QB’s life miserable.
There will be battles all over the field to watch. Receivers vs. defensive backs. The edge rushers vs. the offensive tackles. Heck even Josh Rosen vs. Troy Dye will be a great battle to watch. However none have the linchpin quality of the battles listed above.
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If this UCLA Football team can find a way to win at least one of those battles they give themselves a chance to win this game and gain momentum moving forward. Winning both would give this team a tremendous building block with bowl eligibility on the line. Losing both will drop this team further into a tailspin and someone is going to feel the heat.