The UCLA Football program was able to score a huge program win against the Ducks on Saturday with a double digit win. Can they maintain that level of success through the rest of their schedule?
Now let’s set this argument up with a bit of a preface. The Oregon Ducks team that the UCLA Football team just beat isn’t the Oregon of old. Heck they’re not even the Oregon of four years ago. Their inability to establish depth and development at the QB position has really hurt them. Losing starting QB Justin Herbert and a subsequent loss against the Bruins may have buried any chance of competing in the PAC-12.
Their next winnable game could be at the end of the season against the Oregon State Beavers and given their 1-4 standing in PAC-12 play, Herbert coming back might not be enough to salvage a mid-level bowl appearance.
But enough about the Ducks we are here to talk Bruins.
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The UCLA Football team has been the epitome of a roller coaster ride. In September alone we had the chance to feel our full range of emotions. Their comeback win against the Aggies was one for the ages. Against Hawaii the run defense showed cracks but the offense was crisp and efficient. Memphis was where things started to take a bad turn but the offense did it’s part with 45 points. Stanford was Stanford and the run defense looked like they were just over matched in every possible way.
A close, hard fought win against the Colorado Buffaloes brought the Bruins back to 1-1 in PAC-12 play but the defense continued to be a concern. The run defense was bad but the secondary wasn’t playing up to snuff either.
Enter the month of October. UCLA had a bye week prior to taking on Arizona but it didn’t seem to matter. They were slashed and gashed by the Arizona run game despite there being little in the way of a passing attack. Defensive players seemed more willing to wait to be attacked rather than attack themselves and in stunning fashion the Wildcats, who Mora had never lost to, stomped out the Bruins.
The concerns we had against Oregon reared their ugly head again but the Bruins were able to suffocate a run heavy offense and despite a team rushing effort of 246 yards the Ducks could only score 14 points.
How sustainable is that plan of attack though? What can we expect from the Bruins as they move forward through the last five regular season games?
Washington is next for the Bruins and even though these two teams haven’t faced off since 2014, the paths for these teams have been radically different. Washington, under head coach Chris Petersen, has dominated the North for two years. They’ve done it in a very Petersen way with technically sound football, sharp and efficient offenses and defenses that have smothered and beaten up PAC-12 opponents.
Essentially they’ve become the new Stanford as the Cardinal go through a bit of a down season here in 2017. Against Oregon the UCLA Football defense was aggressive and attacked downhill. Without much threat of a passing attack, selling out against the run was the best defensive strategy while maintaining contain on the edges. That latter point has been particularly difficult to come by this season for the Bruins.
UCLA DB Nate Meadors and the rest of the Bruins defense paved the way for a 31-14 victory over Oregon this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/2K2fQvmfKf
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 22, 2017
Bottling up a run intended to be run between the tackles is fantastic but when your defenders collapse inside you expose yourself to the runner who can bounce it and go up the unguarded sideline. Against Oregon the Bruins were able to get their corners involved to limit the outside runs. That doesn’t help you a ton against a guy like Royce Freeman who prefers to run between the tackles more but it’s incredibly handy against the read-option that has killed UCLA this season.
It’s going to be a much more difficult task dealing with the Washington Huskies. The UCLA Football offense will be hard pressed to run against a much larger defensive line. The Husky LB group is one of the more active units in the PAC-12 defensively. Azeem Victor might just be the best all around LB in the PAC-12 pushing UCLA’s own Kenny Young for the honor. That means Bruin QB Josh Rosen might again feel the heavy load on his shoulders if the run game become a quagmire for UCLA.
Defensively the attacking style the Bruins went with last week will be stressed against a very balanced Washington offense. Yes the Huskies will run the football with Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman forming a lightning and thunder attack. No QB Jake Browning will not keep it and run himself. This isn’t because Browning isn’t athletic enough to do so, well it is a little bit. It is because of all the QBs in the PAC-12, Browning is mentioned the least. He’s a tactician and a surgeon.
Related Story: UCLA Football vs. Oregon 2017: The Battles to Watch
The attacking, downhill play of the UCLA Football defense won’t function well against a QB like Browning who will find the vacated area on blitzes to devastating effect. Hang back in zone and he will shred you. Can the Bruins string together a couple of wins? There’s a chance yes. ASU laid out the blueprint but can the UCLA Football team keep this train rolling?