UCLA Football: Why the Bruins will not win the Pac-12 South Division

Go Joe Bruin has looked at the reason why the UCLA football team could win the Pac-12 South Division, and now we look at the reasons they won’t.

The UCLA football team could be in good position to win the Pac-12 South Division next season, something we went into detail with yesterday.

There are many things that can go the Bruins’ way in 2018, but let us get real, there is also a lot that can get away from them. Winning the division would be a big achievement in Chip Kelly’s first season, as would a second or third place finish if they were close enough, but things could fall to pieces and a fourth, fifth or sixth place finish is possible (though I do not predict UCLA finishing lower than Colorado or Arizona State as those teams seem to have bigger problems).

Either way, there are a few things that could keep UCLA from a complete turnaround in 2018. Let us first look at the team itself.

Yes, the Bruins have Kelly and he is going to bring this team up to speed, but it will take a while as (1) the team is in transition and (2) the team is still waiting for several key players to return from injury as well as depth with in-coming freshmen.

The Spring Game was in danger of being just a practice as Kelly was not sure if he had enough players to fill two teams. Luckily he did and what we saw were two offenses that have a long way to go.

Devon Modster and Matt Lynch, the two QBs that mostly ran with the first and second teams, were not that impressive. Sure they had their moments, but it was the first time they performed in a non-practice situation in front of a crowd. Things were bound to be sluggish. The good thing is that a third option, Austin Burton, rose to the occasion and was the shining light. Still the QB competition is far from over as the Bruins are awaiting the arrival of Michigan transfer Wilton Speight and freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

But it wasn’t just the QBs that need more time to get acclimated to the new system as things were sluggish in both the pass and run game and if this hampers UCLA early in the season, it will take a herculean effort to make up for the slow start later in the season and capture the South Division.

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Another reason things might not bounce UCLA’s way in 2018 is their insanely difficult schedule. ESPN projects the Bruins to get 5.0 wins and 7.0 losses, mostly because they go up against several potential Top 25 teams: Oklahoma, Utah, Oregon, Washington, USC and Stanford. Though I expect Kelly to pull out a few surprise wins, it does not seem likely that he will conquer all (or even most).

Understandably, the Pac-12 South is going through a lot of transition and it might only take six wins to take the division, but that might be a lot to ask in Kelly’s first year, especially if the Bruins are projected to only win 5 games for the season.

So things can go wrong pretty quickly for the Bruins. Though they should find some success throughout 2018 and might improve as the season progresses, the overall product from start to finish could have them missing the goal of winning the South. But is that a bad thing?

Next: UCLA Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2018 season

Only if UCLA falls flat on its face and goes 4-8, but that will not happen with Kelly in charge. If anything, we should expect the Bruins to be competitive throughout the entire season.