The UCLA football team had quite the roller coaster ride in Chip Kelly’s return to Eugene on Saturday. There was a lot of good, but a lot more bad.
In this edition of “The Good, The Bad and The Bruins”, the UCLA football team were riddled with mistakes but also had a few good things go their way.
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It was infuriating knowing that the Bruins could achieve so much, but be held back by a surplus of mistakes. Still, silver linings, am I right? I’m going to go cry now.
The Good
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Offense: Aside from a few missed drops, the Bruins did a solid job moving the ball through the air and on the ground. The Bruins put up 496 total yards on Oregon with 297 via pass and 199 via run. It was as if they could have won this game if it wasn’t for a few pesky issues in other parts of the game. Also, props to the offensive line for allowing so many yards to be collected.
Defense: Before Oregon’s Tony Brooks-James broke free for a 54-yard run in the 4th quarter, UCLA held the Ducks to 146 rushing yards and 3.6 per attempt. The Bruins’ run defense made several important stops to limit Oregon’s progress on several drives. Though it was not perfect, it showed that there is hope for the future.
And now for the bad. There was a lot of bad.
The Bad
Offense: This one has to go to playcalling. UCLA did extremely well when they put the ball in Joshua Kelley’s hands, but they would force the pass when they did not need to. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, though collecting 135 yards and a touchdown, had a bad passing game, going 9/23. On two key drives, UCLA went away from the run, which got them down the field, but then decided to go to the pass to try to punch the ball in. They were turned away both times.
There was also the issue with dropping passes. So. Many. Dropped. Passes.
Defense: Giving up 492 yards is not good. The Bruins held the run in check for the most part, but they could not stop the Ducks running the ball into the end zone three times and QB Justin Herbert throwing for 264 passing yards and 2 touchdowns.
Special Teams: Where to begin? Allowed a touchdown on a punt return. Adarius Pickett muffed a punt which led to a touchdown. Krys Barnes missed a tackle on a fake field goal which led to a touchdown. A bad snap on a field goal forced a turnover on downs. I think that is enough for now.
The Bruins
Offense: Joshua Kelley gets the nod as the Top Bruin on offense. He was a machine against Oregon. He recorded his 5th 100-yard rushing game of the season with 161 yards and averaging 6.2 per attempt. He also had 1 touchdown and 32 receiving yards. Joshua “The Machine” Kelley once again impressed.
Defense: Despite the muffed punt, Adarius Pickett was a headhunter on defense. He helped stop the advancement of several of Oregon’s drives by plugging the gaps and hitting the ball carrier before they could cross the line of scrimmage. What a way to make up for an early mistake.
UCLA’s next game is Saturday, November 10 against the Arizona State Sun Devils in Tempe.