The UCLA Football team is on the ropes with three games left in their season and two wins away from being bowl eligible. If they’re going to notch another PAC-12 win against the ASU Sun Devils they’ll need to adhere to “3 Keys to Victory”.
Alright folks let’s set something straight very early for this edition of “3 Keys to Victory”. I am not going to say “stop the run”. The UCLA Football defense has proven all year long that while playing better is a possibility, stopping the run game isn’t. The Bruins rank 129 out of 130 FBS teams in terms of run defense. Outside of a miracle UCLA isn’t going to shut down this ASU run offense.
Now then, now that we are past that, here are our “3 Keys to Victory” over the ASU Sun Devils.
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1. Keep ASU QB Manny Wilkins off rhythm.
This ASU offense is a run first team. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone especially considering they have both Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard in the backfield. Either one of them are capable of gashing the UCLA Football defense with ease but the combination of both is deadly. Add in what Wilkins can do with his legs and this offense becomes the feared Hydra for the Bruins.
However when the Bruins are facing the pass they need to disrupt the timing between Wilkins and his receivers. Wilkins is a rhythm passer and would prefer to hit his first read at the top of his drop and looks to get the ball out of his hands quickly. Making him double clutch the ball or jamming his receivers at the line so the timing is thrown off will force him to drop his eyes and look to escape.
This can turn into negative plays, turnovers or just incompletions. Given how strong I expect the ASU running game to be against the Bruins, any negative plays will go a long way in giving UCLA a fighting chance.
The caveat of this guideline is that the Bruins will have to face a special kind of receiver the whole game.
2. Make another receiver besides Harry beat you
ASU WR N’Keal Harry (six-foot-four, 215 pounds) is an absolute beast outside for the Sun Devils. They will find any way to get the ball to him because even with the monster talent they have in the backfield, he’s their best playmaker. Capable of outrunning corners or simply just out-jumping them on 50/50 balls in the endzone, Harry is a terror in the PAC-12. If he had a more accurate passer he’d easily be the leading receiver in the conference.
The Sun Devils do have some nice receiving options but it’s the Harry show and then everyone else. The Bruins can’t allow ASU to run at will and throw all day to their favorite target. UCLA Football defensive back Nate Meadors is the most physical corner on the roster for the Bruins but one of the longer corners like Colin Samuel may provide a better matchup in terms of height.
If this UCLA defense can follow our first two steps by taking away Wilkins’ first read, which is likely to be Harry, and force him to look for another receiver they give themselves perhaps the best chance for defensive success.
3. Protect the franchise
No matter what this UCLA Football team does defensively it will all be wasted if they cannot protect Josh Rosen when the Bruins have the ball. In past years this ASU defense would go full “coach Yoast” from Remember the Titans and blitz teams no matter how badly it exposed their backend to competent QBs. This year new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett has reined in the Sun Devils but is still making QBs uncomfortable.
Often rushing just three or four, the ASU defense has found ways to get into the backfield consistently. That’s because guys like Tashon Smallwood and Jojo Wicker are game wreckers while Renell Wren and George Lea have provided splash plays as well.
If ASU decides to blitz look out for linebackers D.J. Calhoun and Christian Sam to make their presence known as well.
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Rosen gives the Bruins the best chance to win and the Sun Devils know that as well. They also know this UCLA Football OL isn’t the best they’ve faced all season by a long shot. Although ASU hasn’t blitzed as heavily this year I fully expect them to try and heat up Rosen early to see if they can get to him. If he goes down so does almost all hope of winning this game.