Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

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

By Mike Regalado

PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 7: Defensive line/assistant head coach Jerry Azzinaro of the Philadelphia Eagles watches his team warm up prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 7, 2014 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 7: Defensive line/assistant head coach Jerry Azzinaro of the Philadelphia Eagles watches his team warm up prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 7, 2014 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 7
Next
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Testing Things Out

We quickly saw how the team played with a portion of their players to start the season. In the non-conference, UCLA went up against Cincinnati, traveled to Oklahoma in Week 2 and returned to the Rose Bowl in Week 3 to face Fresno State. Many UCLA critics predicted (hoped) the Bruins would go 2-1 in this stretch. They went 0-3.

The game against Cincinnati was quite possibly their best defensive performance, holding the Bearcats to 304 total yards. The Bruins also held them to 110 passing yards. Still, there were mistakes and unforeseen factors (on both sides of the ball) that led to the loss, but it seemed as if the defense would indeed be the strength of this team.

UCLA Average Time of Possession: 27:34

Opponent Average Time of Possession: 32:26

In the next week against Oklahoma, it was expected that the Bruins would get waxed against one of the most potent offensive teams in the nation. Depsite, giving up 49 points, there were a lot of things the Bruins showed progress in. The Sooners put up 485 total yards on the Bruins, but it was only the third most in the season. Then there was Fresno State.

I am not exactly sure what happened in that game, but the Bruins could not move the ball against the Bulldogs and they could not stop them from moving the ball. It was in this game where we saw how injuries and lack of depth affected the defense. Fresno State kept attacking the middle of the field and grinding down the Bruins. In that game, the Bulldogs held onto the ball all most twice as long as the Bruins (39:57 to UCLA’s 20:03 time of possession).

When a defense is on the field for that long, there is not a lot of good that could come out of it, yet the Bruins persevered. Controlling the clock got better as the season went on, but for the season, the Bruins defense was on the field more than the offense. UCLA held onto the ball for an average of 27:34 per game while opponents had the ball for 32:26.

So that is what happened in the non-conference, let us move onto conference season.