UCLA Football vs. Kansas State: 3 Keys to a Cactus Bowl victory
The UCLA Football Bruins will be without the services of their star QB against the Kansas State Wildcats. That doesn’t change the fact that there are three simple things that the Bruins must do in order to come away with a victory and send the seniors out with a bowl win.
A down UCLA Football season in 2017 is a little easier to stomach with the promise of Chip Kelly just on the other side of the new year. Still, given all of the talent on the team, a 6-6 finish to the regular season isn’t exactly what the Bruin faithful had in mind. Adding into a bit of this bowl season’s lackluster feeling is the fact that this will be the second time in recent memory that the Bruins are taking on Kansas State in a bowl game. 2015 saw UCLA face the Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl where they came away with a victory despite a furious comeback. They’ll look to repeat those results tonight.
On the other side, Kansas State has enjoyed consistent success behind stalwart head coach Bill Snyder who might very well be the anti-Chip Kelly. He’s built a program that relies on grinding out games and wearing down opponents. K-State might never be confused with the scoring juggernauts that Kelly assembled but the steadiness and consistency that Snyder has created in Manhattan would even make the former Oregon coach jealous. The Wildcats have been forced by injury to play their third string QB but it was only his youth that relegated him to that role and not his talent. A bowl win over a big name program will go a long way in building his potential legacy.
Related Story: UCLA Football: Josh Rosen out for the Cactus Bowl, is he out at UCLA?
1. Control the line of scrimmage
In any football game, controlling the line of scrimmage is paramount. However, with it all but guaranteed that UCLA Football QB Josh Rosen will not play in the Cactus Bowl, the Bruins must find other ways of manufacturing offense. The best way they can do that is by allowing the run game to thrive. RBs Bolu Olorunfunmi and Soso Jamabo have to be able to find success behind the UCLA offensive line. That same OL group will need to provide solid protection against a defensive line that could be dangerous against this less than stellar unit.
Defensively, controlling the line is of equal importance. The K-State offense is almost completely ground driven with much of the passing coming off of run-pass option. If the UCLA Football defensive line is able to stymie the run game and force Skylar Thompson to throw more then the Bruins give themselves a solid chance to win the game.
2. Rein in WR Byron Pringle
Pringle has to be K-State’s most electric skill player. He’s big, thick and has the long speed turn a simple comeback or slant into a score. He’s not the most polished route runner but gets away with it at the college level because his ability to get on top of coverage forces DBs to play off and give such a big cushion. The UCLA Football secondary is full of talented, experienced players and they’ve even be able to season some of the depth due to injury and questionable “targeting” suspensions.
It isn’t just on offense where Pringle can hurt the Bruins. He’s an electric returner and if you’ve been paying attention to the UCLA Football team this season then you know special teams coverage units haven’t been their strong suit. There’s no guarantee that UCLA will be able to maintain the same level of offensive output without Rosen as the QB. Having to overcome special team’s scores doesn’t bode well for the Bruins.
3. Let Devon Modster loose
The odds that Rosen sits out tonight is about 98%. Yes there is a chance that we could all end up surprised and he not only suits up but comes out with the starting offense. The greater chance is that he sits out the bowl game and declares for the 2018 NFL Draft. If the latter takes place then the UCLA Football offensive staff needs to take the training wheels off Modster and allow him to make plays outside of the structure of the pocket.
That means incorporating more bootleg action, empty sets that would allow him to tuck the ball and run if he chose and most importantly, encouraging him to keep the ball when his read dictates it on option-run plays. You can’t expect Modster to come in and run the offense exactly how Rosen does. Very few QBs in college football can play QB as well as he can. What you can expect is that the staff takes full advantage of his natural athleticism and his growing strength as a passer. He’s had plenty of success with the deep ball this year when he’s seen action. If he can incorporate other components into his game, this UCLA offense should be able to, at the very least, keep pace with K-State.
The UCLA Football Bruins will take on the K-State Wildcats at six p.m. tonight. If they can follow these three keys we can expect a big Bruin victory.