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UCLA Football: The good, the bad and the Bruins vs. Washington

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven #25 of the Washington Huskies chases down running back Joshua Kelley #27 of the UCLA Bruins as he runs for a first down in the first quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 06: Linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven #25 of the Washington Huskies chases down running back Joshua Kelley #27 of the UCLA Bruins as he runs for a first down in the first quarter of the game at the Rose Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA football team might be 0-5, but their performance against #10 Washington showed that they took a step forward in their progress.

In this edition of “The Good, The Bad and The Bruins”, the UCLA football team played their most complete game of the season. On offense and defense, from one half to the other, it was the best performance we have seen from a Chip Kelly UCLA team this season.

RELATED: UCLA Proves Washington is Not a Top 10 Team

This may not have resulted in a win, but there were several small victories the Bruins can write home about, which is what I will do now…

The Good

Almost every part of UCLA’s game made major improvements. The offense, in particular, played a solid game, especially against one of the best defenses in the nation. Last week we heard about UCLA (from a statistical point of view) having one of the worst offenses in the nation. This week, they proved (from a statistical point of view) that theory wrong.

UCLA gained 422 total yards, the most this season. They scored 24 points, the most this season (Washington was only giving up 11.6 points per game before this contest). Freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 272 yards, the most this season. You see where I am going with this. There was a lot of progress.

The Bad

Let me preface this by stating that the defense was not all bad, but there were certainly parts of their game that got away from them. UCLA continues to have trouble defending the middle of the field and once again they got burned when Washington QB Jake Browning would throw behind the linebackers. He threw for 265 yards which added to their 462 total yards. Not great, but according to the eye test, the Bruins held their own against the #10 team in the nation.

The Bruins

Offense – This is a three-way tie between DTR (who threw for a game/season/career-high 272 yards), RB Joshua Kelley (who ran for over 100 yards for consecutive games with 125 yards) and TE Caleb Wilson (who had 102 receiving yards).

Defense – Linebacker Krys Barnes played with determination as he racked up 9 tackles, 3 for a loss, 1 sack, and 1 pass breakup. He is definitely the strength of the LB corps.

Next. The Top 10 Bruin Quarterbacks of All-Time. dark

UCLA’s next game is Saturday at 4:00  p.m. at the Memorial Stadium as the Bruins visit the California Golden Bears.