Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Washington Huskies 2017

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It all starts up front for this defense and for good reason. Defensive linemen Vita Vea and Greg Gaines combine to tip the scales at almost 700 pounds. That’s a ton of beef to move inside in the running game but these two aren’t just pluggers. They’re active in the pass rush department and can collapse the pocket with sheer power forcing QBs into trying to escape outside where they can be swallowed up by edge rushers. You ask a lot of an offense line when you almost have to double those two when they’re on the field and still get a push in the run game. Really does help you maintain a 2.2 yards per carry average.

You know what else helps you maintain the best rush defense in the country in terms of ypc? Active LBs that can fly to the football because offensive lines are occupied with that DL. Azeem Victor has returned from a broken leg in 2016 to basically pickup where he left off. A sideline to sideline tackler he can get into the double digit tackles in the blink of an eye. He’s also getting some great play from his running mate Keishawn Bierria who is one fumble recovery from tying the school record with eight. This front seven can show you 3-4, 4-3, and even some 2-4-5 looks.

This backend is where things get a little tricky. It was decimated by the NFL draft and injury but there have been some pleasant surprises. Myles Bryant has played well in place of the injured Byron Murphy who has a broken foot but now the Huskies will need to find another starting CB with Jordan Miller breaking his ankle against ASU.

At the safety position Washington has a heady veteran in JoJo McIntosh but the name that comes with a ton of buzz is sophomore Taylor Rapp. He was PAC-12 Defensive Freshman of the year in 2016 and he’s carrying on the recent trend of very good Washington DBs.

Wrap up and Predicition

If the UCLA Football team is going to head up to Seattle and come home with a win they should borrow some notes from the ASU game.On offense the Sun Devils used motion in the form of sweeps to speedster Kyle Williams in the same way the Bruins have on a few occasions to Demetric Felton.

This does two things, if you give it to the sweep man you avoid running into the teeth of the Washington defense and you force those big DL to chase and tire. When they’re out of the game for a breather you run the same play again except this time you feed your RB to run between the tackles. The motion takes a defender out of the box and the defensive line as a whole is lighter making running the football a little easier.

The Bruins also would be wise to test the injury plagued secondary. Rosen is arguably the best QB in the PAC-12 so why not use your best offensive weapon against a depleted unit?

Defensively this UCLA Football team is in for a major fight. This running game is strong and if they attack downhill too aggressively they’ll be shredded by Browning. The Sun Devils were aggressive and brought plenty of pressure. While the Bruins could do something like this, the coaching tendency has been to play a “bend but don’t break” defense. However the offensive injuries for Washington and inconsistent UCLA defense dictate the Bruins should roll the dice in form of pressure.

Next: UCLA Football vs. Washington 2017: 3 Keys to Victory

Despite what could be a huge win for the program and for this team it is hard to imagine the Bruins could steal this one with how complete the Huskies are. 35-24 Washington.