UCLA Football: The defense has a huge test in front of them

UCLA football’s defense made improvements from last season but will be tested this weekend at Oklahoma. Will they continue to progress or will they be out of place?

It seems unanimous that UCLA football‘s defense was the bright spot in the Bruins’ loss to Cincinnati. Despite giving up a late touchdown, the Bruins’ D did a remarkable job keeping the Bearcats in check.

Though there were a few areas of concern, for the most part, the defense did what they were supposed to do.

Additionally, and this is not to point fingers, but the offense and coaching decisions put them in a few bad situations. There was QB Wilton Speight’s interception in the first quarter that gave Cincinnati a short field starting at the Bruins’ 27-yard line that led to a touchdown.

Then there was the failed 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter that led to another Bearcat touchdown. Adding to that, UCLA had a “12 men on the field” penalty when Cincinnati was about to kick a field goal. Being able to move up just a few inches gave the Bearcats a bit more confidence to try for the touchdown. It worked and made what would have been a 22-17 lead into a 26-17 lead and sealing the win with 1:44 left in the game.

Besides that, UCLA was very good on the defensive end. They were not otherworldly, but they were good. The biggest play they gave up was a 32-yard run. When defending the pass, the Bruins did not allow more than an 18-yard play to get by them.

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As I pointed out in an earlier article, the Bruins held the Bearcats to below three of their defensive averages from last season:

Rushing Yards Allowed: 287.4 (2017), 194 vs Cincinnati
Passing Yards Allowed: 196.3 (2017), 110 vs Cincinnati
Total Yards Allowed: 482.7 (2017), 304 vs Cincinnati

Yes, this is against a Cincinnati team which is not considered an offensive powerhouse, but it is a start. Now they have to try and continue that progress against a team that is considered to be an offensive powerhouse… Oklahoma.

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The Sooners destroyed Florida Atlantic last week in a 63-14 victory. Oklahoma had 334 passing yards and 316 rushing yards which added up to 650 total yards. That was good for the 9th best performance in the nation last week.

So what will happen when this Oklahoma offense meets this UCLA defense? Hopefully, the Bruins can limit the Sooners better than the Owls did last weekend. Oklahoma is already running on all cylinders and will put yards and points on this Bruin D, but Oklahoma might get smacked upside the head a few times as this Bruin squad is hungry and wants to prove that they are nothing like the defense that took the field in 2017.

UCLA’s push upfront showed promise as the put a lot of pressure on Cincinnati. Jaelan Phillips, Keisean Lucier-South, Rick Wade and Lokeni Toialoa all had a sack in that game. That is four in one contest compared to UCLA’s average of 1.7 per game in 2017. The Bruins also continued to be defenders of the sky as they broke up five passes with Darnay Holmes and Krys Barnes knocking away two each.

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This is progress, but they are going to be tested when they get to Norman. It probably will not be pretty, but if the Bruins play with aggression and step up in this big event, who knows what we will see. At this point, just slowing down the Sooners could be a victory in and of itself.