UCLA Football: Limiting mistakes helped the Bruins get the win over USC

In a season full of miscues, the UCLA football team was able to limit their mistakes against USC, which helped lead to their victory over the Trojans.

Do you remember that play during the USC-UCLA football game when offensive pass interference was called on Theo Howard, nullifying the Bruins’ first score of the game?

Or how about that both of those false starts on the UCLA offensive line which brought back Joshua Kelley‘s runs of 61 and 55 yards, with the latter resulting in a potential touchdown.

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You don’t remember? It is because none of that happened. UCLA, a team that has been trying to fit in the new system brought forth by Chip Kelly, has had a season full of miscues, missteps, and mistakes. It was to be expected considering all the youth, injuries, lack of depth, and one of the hardest schedules on the planet.

But against USC, for 60 minutes, the Bruins limited those mistakes which helped them play a solid game on offense, defense, and with special teams.

Earlier in the week, I wrote an article for Go Joe Bruin about the UCLA-USC game, Limiting Mistakes Will Determine the Winner. Essentially, the team that is sharpest, will come out on top.

As we saw, that team was UCLA.

The Bruins have been plagued by mistakes, especially in the last three weeks, but against USC, they tightened up the screws to allow all three facets of their game to play to their potential. The Bruins only had 2 penalties for 15 yards, one turnover and went 7/13 with 3rd down conversions. We also have to throw in that blocked punt that gave the Trojans a touchdown. Still, not altogether bad.

USC was not so lucky. They had 9 penalties for 63 yards, two interceptions, and could only convert on 3rd down 4 out of 13 times. Considering they had 449 total yards and only lost by a touchdown, it can be argued that the Trojans shot themselves in the foot in this game whilst UCLA did as much as it could not to.

This is the potential we have been talking about all season long. This is the kind of game we have been hoping to see under Chip Kelly. It has taken its time to manifest and still has a long way to go, but it helps to understand why UCLA has struggled this season and are currently 3-8.

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I know many hate the term “trust the process”, but it is the truth and has to be allowed to play out. UCLA has one more game this season and then they are done until September 2019, but I can tell you that what happens in that time will be beneficial to the future of this program.