UCLA Football: Position Grades for tough loss at No. 10 Utah

UCLA football went to Salt Lake on Saturday and suffered its first defeat of the season, falling to Utah 14-7. Let’s break down this performance, position-by-position.

Time to hold your nose and take your medicine. This was a tough one.

Quarterback: D

Well, it’s crow-eating time here. I was convinced that this would be Dante Moore’s coming-out party, and I was wrong. He opened the game with a pick-six, and there were no real positives to glean from his performance until the fourth quarter. After so much hype was built up around the freshman quarterback, Saturday was sobering.

Moore gets a D, though, because while he could have played much better, he also had absolutely no help up front (more on the OL below).

Running Back: C

The backs weren’t bad on Saturday, but they weren’t great. TJ Harden and Carson Steele combined for 60 yards on 22 carries, and the only reception between the two was a 12-yard catch from Steele.

Again, there wasn’t much push up front, so it’s tough to ether the offensive skill groups, but this wasn’t a banner day.

Receivers: B

This was probably the brightest spot for UCLA’s offense on a difficult day. Carsen Ryan caught three balls for 69 yards, Logan Loya hauled in five for 63, and J Michael Sturdivant caught three for 60. Josiah Norwood scored a touchdown on his lone reception of the day, finding the end zone on a 17-yarder.

Offensive Line: F

This is where all the problems started on Saturday. The Bruin front allowed their freshman quarterback to be sacked seven times, and ball carriers were tackled for loss on 11 plays. That alone makes 18 snaps with negative yardage. How do you win that way, let alone beat a team like Utah?

This was just a putrid performance. Utah may field the best defensive front in the conference, so it can’t get any worse than Saturday, but man, that was a difficult watch from front to back.