How is UCLA football’s pace through the first five games? We look at how the Bruins are using their offense and time on the field (as well as their tempo) to look for signs of progress.
The UCLA football team is 0-5 to start the Chip Kelly era, so are you one of those Bruins fans that look at the record and regret the hiring of the new coach or are you one of those that dig deeper to look for change?
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With five games already in the books, we have seen enough to examine what Bruins are doing with Kelly’s system. Though many did not expect UCLA to win a title in the coach’s first season, many expected something more than we have seen.
Here we will look at the time of possession, the balance of run/pass plays and the tempo to see if the Bruins are trending a certain way. Many expected a fast-paced offense, which has not been the case early in the season, but is there another approach Kelly is taking?
UCLA Football – Time of Possession, Offensive Balance, and Tempo
| Vs. | T.O.P. | Pass/Run – Total Plays | Sec/Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati | 25:39 | 37/33 – 68 | 22.6 |
| Oklahoma | 31:16 | 26/50 – 76 | 24.6 |
| Fresno St. | 20:03 | 24/31 – 55 | 21.9 |
| Colorado | 25:13 | 35/28 – 63 | 24.0 |
| Washington | 21:51 | 38/27 – 65 | 20.2 |
| — | — | — | — |
| Total | — | 160/167 – 327 | — |
| Avg/game | 24:48 | 32/33.4 – 65.4 | 22.7 |
Time of Possession
Time of possession is crucial for teams that want to take control of the game, though it has not exactly worked in UCLA’s favor this season, we ask “does it really need to?” If the goal is to play uptempo (is that the goal of Kelly’s second stint in college football?), time of possession might not be a big deal.
In all honesty, if Kelly wants to get the ball downfield in a hurry and put up points, then T.O.P. is not a huge concern. The only reason it matters is that it causes the defense to be on the field a lot longer, which could drain them of energy by game’s end and if UCLA is in a battle late in the game, that would not be ideal.
If the Bruins are ahead by several touchdowns, then it doesn’t matter as much as they could send in reserves to finish the game.
Still, for the sake of controlling the clock, UCLA has not done a great job possessing the rock. Only once have the Bruins held the ball longer than their opponent and that was against Oklahoma who was so far ahead of UCLA in the second half that it really did not matter if the Sooners had control of the ball or not.
The interesting thing is that during their best offensive effort against Washington, UCLA only had the ball for 21:51, the second lowest T.O.P. of the season. Why is it interesting? Because the tempo against the Huskies was the fastest it has been all season as UCLA averaged 20.2 seconds in between each play (I will get deeper into this in a bit).
If the result of playing uptempo is having the ball less than their opponents, then UCLA should have no worries, but worries abound as UCLA is 0-5. Part of that is because the offense has not been able to play consistently for an entire game. That changed last week against Washington.
The Balance of Offense
So how are these plays being divided up? It was believed that Kelly would install a run-based system, though it seems as if he is relying more on the pass. UCLA ran the ball 50 times against Oklahoma, the most this season, though that only resulted in 129 yards and 2.6 yards per attempt. Not exactly what Kelly had in mind, I’m sure.
Against Fresno State, the ball was run more than it was passed, but not by much. Since then he has shifted the responsibility to QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and his arm. Some might question this tactic, but if the Bruins can be successful throwing the ball, that opens up the run game. To an extent, it has.
Against Colorado, UCLA was able to run and pass, albeit only in the first half. UCLA fell apart in the second, succumbing to several three and outs which disallowed them to sustain drives. It also did not help that DTR was off the mark with several passes. Still, that was the first of two consecutive games in which RB Joshua Kelley ran for over 100 yards. It also marked the return of Boss Tagaloa at center.
Against Washington, there were improvements all around. DTR had a better passing performance. He had to, especially in the first half when he threw the ball 17 times as opposed to handing it off for the run eight times. But as we saw in the second half, UCLA evened things out between the pass and the run and that made a world of difference. It opened up the offense and the Bruins were able to put up the most points and total yards in a game this season, against the best defense in the country, no less.
Keep in mind, the offensive line played very well against the Huskies and part of that had to do with the addition of Tagaloa. The improvement of the line not only gave DTR the opportunity to pass for 272 yards but also helped Kelley as he ran for a season-high 125. Adn that led to …
Tempo
The tempo seems to be everything with those evaluating Chip Kelly. And why not? That is what he was known for back at Oregon. It is what made his blur offense so special, but it was not just about going fast. It was about making the right reads and executing to be able to go fast. That did not exactly manifest itself in the first few games.
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In calculating the tempo for each game, I noticed that the Bruins were better at running tempo in some games over others. And even in those games, it varied throughout, which is why it doesn’t explain if tempo has worked or not, thusly, the pace was not exactly due to playing faster. Let’s take the Fresno State game into account. UCLA averaged 21.9 seconds per play in that game, which is reasonably fast, but if you remember, Fresno State had the ball a lot longer than UCLA. Additionally, the Bruins ran the fewest plays in a game this season against the Bulldogs. You can’t play tempo if you don’t get the chances to.
Oppositely, in the Oklahoma game, UCLA had the ball longer than the Sooners and was able to run more plays, but their seconds per play was the highest of the five games played. There was not a lot of tempo. That changed last weekend.
There was a difference between the Oklahoma and Fresno State games compared to the Washington game. UCLA had the fastest tempo of the season (20.2 sec/play). Against the Huskies, the Bruins substituted less, they were able to sustain drives and they limited turnovers. That allowed UCLA to play consistently and with limited distractions.
The result: the most points this season (24), the most total yards (422), the most passing yards (272) and the most yards per rush attempt (5.6).
If the Bruins continue to play with that amount of production than they can beat a lot more teams than initially projected. UCLA played a tough Washington team, so imagine what they can do against Cal, Arizona, Arizona State, and USC. Heck, if they play with this type of success, they can be competitive against Oregon and Stanford. But that is yet to be seen. This team still has a lot of growing up to do and after their performance against UW, it seems like they are on the right track.