Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Football: Weekly variations in the 2018 offense

By Chris Osgood

NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Bruins 49-21. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
NORMAN, OK - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Chip Kelly of the UCLA Bruins during the game against the Oklahoma Sooners at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma. The Sooners defeated the Bruins 49-21. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Weekly variations in the 2018 offense (cont.)

The final game against Stanford was the entire kitchen sink; almost everything that had been introduced in 2018 was used against the Cardinal. That game also had some interesting inverted results for a number of wrinkles. OZR (outside zone read), tackle over, pistol, and 10 personnel were pretty ‘meh’ for most of the season, but were very successful against Stanford. Sideline checks and tight WRs were pretty good earlier in the season and tanked against Stanford. On this one, I’m going to conclude that the Stanford defense had game planned well for what UCLA had been good at, and did not expect/dared UCLA to run what had been bad at and abandoned.

The jerky nature of the chart reflects a struggling offense in the first year of a scheme, with notable injuries at key skill positions of RB and QB. The average wrinkle count in wins was 5.7, while the average wrinkle count in losses was 4.1. This simplistic breakdown shows that the team is more likely to be successful when they can keep a defense guessing and paying attention to multiple possibilities. I’m concluding that Chip wanted to do more early, but had to hold back on how much variation he could bring in each week due to slow player absorption in the new system.

The system install should be much further along in 2019. The RB position should be much more consistent this year. I think we all know that the QB depth is exposed unless they find a transfer. Even if they get a QB transfer, that player will have been limited by missing spring ball.

Running Game (first three columns)

The early season running game featured a struggling (look at all that red in the upper left!) and scattershot mix of OZR, tackle-over, and pistol along with the foundational IZR (inside zone read) running game. This was going on at the same time as the RB position was in full random playing-time platoon mode. Once Joshua Kelley established himself (halftime of week 4 vs Colorado), tackle-over and pistol disappeared during the middle of the season, and OZRs became a rare gimmick.

Then they all exploded back on the scene against USC and Stanford. I’d like to see all these features be a consistent change up threat through the entire season in 2019, but none of them should be staples (because they are easily schemed against when used more consistently). The top half of the first 3 columns for the running game represent the strongest argument in favor of the hotly debated Chip workshop theory. The running game design, results, and RB rotation in the first half of the season has the look of an NFL pre-season messaround.