UCLA Football: The defense has to try and slow down Ronald Jones II

USC has a great run game and the UCLA football team is not good against the run. If the Bruins want a chance to win this game, they have to slow down Ronald Jones II.

Never count out a team in a rivalry game. USC fans know that all too well. Back in 2009, the UCLA Football team came out with a tremendous 13-9 win to knock the Trojans out of a spot in the National Championship. It was

USC’s

Game for the taking, and they did not seal the deal. But that was then and this year is different. USC is already a lock for the Pac-12 Championship Game. Although UCLA has a chance against USC, albeit a small one, it seems the Trojans will run away with this year’s Crosstown Showdown. With that in mind, get used to hearing the name

Ronald

He is the top man out of a fantastic group of running backs for the Trojans. Heading into this game, USC is 4th in the Pac-12 in rushing offense with 200.5 yards a game. By himself,

Jones

Is averaging 111.3 yards per game. He has a total of 1224 yards (10th in the NCAA) and is carrying the ball for 6.7 yards per attempt. This is troubling for UCLA because they are giving up 302.3 yards on the ground (last in the Pac-12). The run defense has its moments but for the most part it is simply not good. It is true, they have a ridiculous amount of injuries, but the run defense seems to have several problems, a lot of which seem to stem from lack of fundamentals.

Will

UCLA be able to hold off Jones? The Bruins tend to make back ups look like superstars, and superstars look like legends. Stanford’s Bryce Love ran for 263 yards, adding to the team total of 403 a month ago. Jones is a bit of the same. Very strong, great speed and has an eye for finding the holes in the line. Not only will Jones

Run

Down the Bruins’ defense, he will colllect a massive amount of yards doing it. The Bruins can’t stop Jones but they could slow him down. This is where their focus needs to be. UCLA’s defense needs to worry more about Jones than quarterback Sam Darnold, in my opinion.

Over

The course of the season, Darnold has been more of a liability than Jones. Though Darnold is an superb athlete and finds ways to get the ball down the field, he’s going to have a tough task on his hands with the Bruin secondary, which continues to be one of the best in the Pac-12.

UCLA’s

Main concern needs to be stacking the box and limiting Jones (and the other Trojan running backs Stephen Carr, Vavae Malepeai and Aca’Cedric Ware, all of which are averaging 5.2 or more yards per carry). UCLA’s offense should be able to battle it out with USC’s defense. That means the Bruin

Defense

Next: Josh Rosen vs. Sam Darnold… its time to get it on!

Needs to do their part and give Josh Rosen and the offense enough to work with to keep this game close. It hasn’t been pretty, but with some extra fire added to this rivalry game, we could see a very spirited UCLA football team take the field on Saturday.