Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

UCLA Football: Penalties made a significant drop in 2018

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 26: Chip Kelly head coach UCLA Bruins during a fourth quarter time out against Utah Utes at the Rose Bowl on October 26, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 26: Chip Kelly head coach UCLA Bruins during a fourth quarter time out against Utah Utes at the Rose Bowl on October 26, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Despite a 3-9 record, the UCLA football team made several small improvements in 2018 which will help the team going forward. One of those included a decrease in penalties.

If you ask any UCLA football fan, “what was one of the biggest issues with the team when Jim Mora was in charge?” there would be a good chance they say “penalties.”

RELATED: UCLA Football – Looking at the Schedule by Month

No matter how good the team was or how many wins they got, it was a well-known fact that the Bruins were atrocious when it came to reeling in the penalties. For some reason, Mora could not get his players (both offense and defense) disciplined enough to cut down on infractions, many of which were drive killers.

UCLA’s Penalty Numbers over the Last Four Seasons

  • 2018: Avg/game: 6.8 | Avg yards/game: 57.0 | Total: 82 | Total yards: 684
  • 2017: Avg/game: 8.2 | Avg yards/game: 75.2 | Total: 106 | Total yards: 977
  • 2016: Avg/game: 6.6 | Avg yards/game: 59.7 | Total: 79 | Total yards: 716
  • 2015: Avg/game: 8.3 | Avg yards/game: 70.3

In 2016, UCLA was able to bring the numbers down slightly, but penalties ballooned back up in 2017, Mora’s final season. Though the former coach was let go for a long list of reasons, penalties did not help his cause.

MORE UCLA FOOTBALL: The Projected 2019 Depth Chart

With Chip Kelly taking over and implementing his own system and philosophy, many wondered what would become of the issues with penalties.

To everyone’s surprise, the numbers decreased dramatically with Kelly in charge. Yes, the Bruins also incurred several drive-killing penalties and had several infractions that took them out of scoring and kicking range (ask kicker JJ Molson), but for the most part, they were being limited.

More from Go Joe Bruin

That is pretty impressive considering the massive turnover the Bruins had with their roster. Not only did the coaching staff work with a lot of new players (both freshmen and transfers) last season, but they were able to get more disciplined play from the returning players that managed to stick around.

That says something about how Kelly runs his program. Mora was not able to instill discipline with his players after six years in charge and one season, Kelly brought those numbers down.

We can also expect those numbers to drop during the upcoming 2019 season. The players now understand Kelly’s philosophy and know that if they do not execute his schemes correctly (which includes limiting penalties), they will be replaced with players who can.

Next. The 30 Greatest UCLA Football Players of All-Time. dark

Sure it may be harsh, but it is football. If the team wants to win, they have to adopt a winning culture.