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UCLA Football: Where does the offense go from here? Recap and outlook

By Mike Regalado

TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins reacts during the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins reacts during the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils at Sun Devil Stadium on November 10, 2018 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
(Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) /

Where does the offense go from here? (cont.)

This is what we should expect from UCLA next season. There will be no Oregon 2.0, that is apparent. What we will see is UCLA 1.0 with Kelly.

There are those that are disheartened by the 3-9 record UCLA posted this season. You have to look past that. You have to see what Kelly was doing from game to game this season and if you do, there is a lot that will have you beaming for 2019.

Lets us take a look at what happened with the Bruins’ offense in each third of the season.

 UCLA in 2018 First 4 Games Middle 4 games Last 4 games
Record 0-4 2-2 1-3
Points/Game 17.0 25.5 31.3
Total Yards 311.3 380.3 485.5
3rd Down Conv. 30.4% 41.9% 40.4%

What have we been saying here at GJB, especially in the later part of the season? There is progress. In the Bruins’ first four games (Cincinnati, Oklahoma, Fresno State, and Colorado), many UCLA football fans did not have a lot of hope and we can see why. They couldn’t move the ball, they couldn’t get into the end zone, and they were not extending drives.

But something started to change in the next four (Washington, Cal, Arizona, and Utah). Though the Bruins were thoroughly beat down by Utah, there was progress in the other three games, especially since UCLA finally won, not just one, but two games. The experiment was starting to produce the results Kelly (and fans) were looking for, but it was only the beginning.

Depsite only getting one win in the last four games (Oregon, ASU, USC, and Stanford), the Bruins were in each game and it can be argued that they had a chance to win the other three. More importantly, with the offense finally shaping into what Kelly imagined, numbers shot up, especially in points and total yards.

UCLA, on average, was scoring over 16 more points in the last four games as opposed to the first four. Additionally, they were tacking on nearly 175 more total yards per game (a big shout out to the offensive line for this progress). How does the saying go? Oh yeah… trust the process.