UCLA Football vs. Oregon 2018: Three keys to victory
The UCLA football team heads to Oregon this weekend in what should be an interesting game. Here are three things the Bruins need to accomplish to claim a victory against the Ducks.
It is a going to be quite the event as UCLA football head coach Chip Kelly returns to Autzen Stadium as his Bruins face his old team, the Oregon Ducks.
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Aside from the harsh epithets that will be thrown his way, Kelly and the Bruins need to avoid the noise and play a solid game of football. Here are three things that will help him achieve that.
1. Run. The. Ball.
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One of the reasons UCLA lost the game last week against Utah is because they went away from the thing that Kelly has been trying to implement and has been actually working in the last month: running the ball. The Bruins ran the ball 39% of the time against the Utes and gained 127 yards.
With the pass, they could only muster up 164 yards. As a team, the Bruins averaged 4.9 yards per attempt. What is an even better stat is that Joshua Kelley, who ran for 90 yards, averaged 5.6 yards per attempt. In the passing department, Wilton Speight averaged 4.1 yards per attempt. As I said… Run. The. Ball.
2. Tighten Up The Defensive Line
The run defense has not been great the last two games, giving up 289 to Arizona and 325 to Utah. If they were to have a game where they wake up from their Jim Mora-era funk, this would be it. Oregon has not exactly proven they can run the ball and gaining only 84 yards on the ground last week against Arizona is evidence of that.
This could be good for UCLA, but they have to put in the work. the Bruins need to get into the backfield and drop the ball carriers for a loss, they need to get a few sacks on whoever is at QB, they need to close the gaps and they need to wrap up on tackles and not allow an excessive number of yards after contact.
3. Do Not Give Oregon Good Field Position
Last week, UCLA gave up horrible field position to the Utes. Utah started, on average, at the UCLA 40-yard line. This cannot happen against Oregon. Yes, the Utes are a better team than the Ducks at this time, but that does not mean the Bruins should give Oregon any chance to take advantage.
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Limit turnovers, finish drives, and if they have to give up the ball, put it on the foot of punter Stefan Flintoft and pin that ball against the end zone.