UCLA Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2018 season

4. The defense will cut their rush defense numbers from 2018 in half

I’m really upset that I have to once again use the term “bend but don’t break.”  I didn’t like using it during the Jim Mora era, and I don’t like using it now as a frame of reference of what UCLA’s new defense will not be doing next season. But here we are.

Simply put, UCLA’s defense was overly conservative. They could not stop the run, they didn’t seem to have fundamentals with tackling, it appeared as though they waited for the ball to come to them and there was not a lot of pressure put on opposing quarterbacks.

2017 rush yards allowed: 3,736

2017 rush yard allowed per game: 287.4

That is going to change a lot next season and with that, UCLA is going to cut down their numbers, especially in rush defense. Last season, the Bruins were the worst rush defense team in the nation (literally, the only direction they have to go is up), allowing runners to blow past them for 3,736 yards. That translates to 287.4 yards per contest.

With the growing “violent” nature of the new defense, the addition of some key freshman and vets returning from injury, UCLA will be very stacked and play the ball very aggressively which will result in massive improvements. That will result in the defense allowing no more than 190 yards on the ground in 2018. I have written!