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Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Oklahoma 2018

By Mike Regalado

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 01: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 01: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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NORMAN, OK – SEPTEMBER 01: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK – SEPTEMBER 01: The Oklahoma Sooners take the field before the game against the Florida Atlantic Owls at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 1, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Owls 63-14. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /

After a shocking loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats, the UCLA football team’s schedule gets exponentially tougher as they face Oklahoma in their next game.

Well, this past Saturday was one that most UCLA football fans did not expect. After an entire offseason of hearing about how fast the Bruins would be playing, they played at a much slower pace than Chip Kelly has been known for.

RELATED: 10 Bold Predictions for UCLA Football in 2018

So what are we to expect this weekend when the Bruins travel to Oklahoma to play one of the best teams in the nation in their own home? Pain. Most likely.

Oklahoma Offense

There is a reason Oklahoma went to the College Football Playoffs last season. They have an exceptionally good offense. Even though their signal caller Baker Mayfield has been replaced by Kyler Murray, it does not seem to matter as the new QB did not skip a beat with the offense.

Last season, the Sooners had one of the top scoring offenses in the nation with 45.1 points per game. They blasted past that in their season opener against Florida Atlantic, winning 63-14. This game was decided at halftime when Oklahoma was leading 42-0. Clearly, the offense has a lot of firepower, despite the fact that Baker Mayfield (the second best QB in the 2018 NFL Draft behind UCLA’s Josh Rosen – I had to get that in there) has moved onto the pros.

"DID YOU KNOW? The name “Sooner” comes from those that entered Oklahoma’s Unassigned Lands in 1889 early to stake a claim in free land."

The Sooners continue to have a balanced attack as they nearly split their 650 total yards down the middle. The rushing game put up 316 yards on the Owls with seven different players running the rock and three of them running for over 50 yards, including Rodney Anderson who only needed five carries to get 100 yards in the ground, two of which went for touchdowns.

The offensive dominance could be linked to the experienced offensive line. Not only did they open up several holes and allow Murray to operate, but they only gave up three sacks. Two of them were on backup QB Austin Kendall. Despite the pressure, Kendall still threw for 88 yards and one touchdown, so if Oklahoma goes up big early and Murray is relieved of duties in the second half, the Sooners will not let up with Kendall.

Speaking of not letting up in the passing game, Oklahoma had 334 yards through the air with nine players catching a pass. Marquise Brown led the charge with 133, averaging 22.2 yards per catch as he seamlessly moved through the FAU defense.

2018 Oklahoma Offensive Stats

Total – 650.0 | Rushing – 316.0 | Passing – 334.0 | Scoring – 63.0

The highlight of UCLA’s loss was that of their defense. Though they were tough and expectedly aggressive, they are going to have a hard time slowing down this high-octane Oklahoma offense. The Bruins might be better at getting into the backfield and disrupting the offense, but they are going to have to make huge efforts to limit the Sooners’ scoring chances.

If UCLA wants to halt Oklahoma, it might be through the air as the Bruins secondary continued to be a strength. Now if Oklahoma wants to push UCLA around, it would be beneficial of them to test the Bruins’ run defense, which looks better but is still susceptible to giving up the run.