UCLA Football: What we’ve learned through four games

At the one-third mark of the season, and coming off a difficult defeat at the hands of Utah, UCLA football takes a breather. Here’s what the season has taught us so far.

This could be bad timing for UCLA’s bye week, or it could be perfect timing. Coming off a stifling loss on the road at Utah in the Bruins’ Pac-12 opener, this could be a great chance to regroup, or it could provide far too much downtime to ponder just how crushing that trip to Salt Lake actually was.

It’s the kind of week that reminds you coaching is not just about the X’s and O’s. This is also a game of managing personalities, and for a team that is led by a true freshman quarterback, that makes the bye week approach all the more important.

In the locker room, this is a pivotal week to regroup and move forward for the Bruins. For us, we get a chance to exhale and enjoy one stress-free Saturday. The slate is pretty good this weekend, No. 10 Utah plays No. 19 Oregon State on Friday night, and Saturday features games between No. 11 Notre Dame & No. 17 Duke, No. 8 USC & Colorado, No. 13 LSU & No. 20 Ole Miss, and No. 24 Kansas & No. 3 Texas.

This off-week also gives UCLA a chance to reflect on the first third of the season. Through four games, and a 3-1 start for the Bruins, what have we learned? What have we seen? What are the pros and cons of the 2023 Bruins, at least up to this point?

Let’s dive in.

The offensive line must improve.

The quarterback position is often referred to as the most important position in sports, and that may be true when it comes to being the face of a program and the captain of the offensive ship. In all actuality, however, no quarterback can do anything without an effective offensive line.

Against Utah, well, effective wasn’t nearly the right adjective for the Bruin line. Inept is probably a more apt way to describe Dante Moore’s protection on Saturday.

The quarterback was sacked seven times, and Bruin ball carriers were brought down in the backfield on another 11 runs. That’s 18 snaps of negative yardage, and it doesn’t even account for throwaways or positive scrambles due to pressure.

Now, yes, that was the best defense UCLA will play all year, but that performance really put a ceiling on how good the Bruins can be in 2023.

This unit has been good against FCS opponents and Group of Five competition, but it’s 0-for-1 against the Pac-12. If other conference opponents can have even a fraction of the penetration that Utah got on Saturday, then the Bruins are in for a long 2023.

Dante Moore has the maturity to be great.

For a quarterback, a game like Saturday’s is maddening. On the last offensive drive of the game, he dropped back four times and was sacked three. The time to throw the ball was virtually nonexistent. It’s these kinds of games where you learn what kind of leader a guy is.

Moore was sacked seven times, and he got up, brushed it off, and moved on to the next play seven times. He wasn’t happy about the way the game was going, but he wasn’t finger-pointing or visibly accosting his teammates for missed assignments. He just got up and moved forward.

As mentioned prior, this was the best defense the Bruins will see all year, and that may be by a pretty significant margin.

After Saturday, you can feel pretty confident in the fact that when adversity comes, Moore isn’t going to bail. He’s seen the most pressure he’ll see all year, so everything moving forward is going to feel manageable for the true freshman.

It’s games like Saturday’s that make players better. Iron sharpens iron, and Utah was unrelenting as they came this week.

He’s got the talent too.

Enough about the loss already. Through four games, it was just one blemish on the 2023 season. In the other three games, the five-star recruit has shined brightly, producing a plethora of highlights already.

There was the 67-yard touchdown pass to open the game against North Carolina Central:

https://twitter.com/UCLAFootball/status/1703154543343632891

And all those throws he made against Coastal Carolina and San Diego State:

Before Saturday, Moore was 32-of-51 for 615 yards and seven touchdowns. He played far better than the two more experienced quarterbacks on the roster, Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee. He’s formed a strong connection with J Michael Sturdivant, Logan Loya, and Josiah Norwood, and still made some impressive throws in the face of adversity.

Moore has lived up to the hype in 2023, and there’s no ceiling on the true freshman’s potential growth going forward.

The defense has been impressive.

Lastly, it’s hard not to be impressed by defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn’s side of the ball. This unit is giving up just 11 points per game, and through the first third of the season, they’re suddenly making a case to be considered one of the top three defenses in the Pac-12.

Aside from a few too many penalties, it’s tough to find a big concern with this group. They’ve given up plenty of yardage, especially through the air, but it has mostly come between the 20s. This is a bend-but-don’t-break unit that doesn’t relinquish many points. In the modern game, especially in the quarterback-strong Pac-12, that’s realistically the best approach to employ.

The highlight of the defense is Laitau Latu, a defensive lineman who has racked up four sacks, a forced fumble, and an interception in 2023. The senior is on pace for his best sack total in his career, and it’s propelled him up draft boards. In all likelihood, Latu’s name is going to get called on the first night of the NFL Draft come April.

The linebacking corps has improved with each week as well. A big part of holding Utah to just 14 points was the play of Darius Muasau and Kain Medrano. The two have combined for 45 tackles, five sacks, and an interception through four games.

The season is still young, but so far, there’s far more positive than negative within this UCLA program. The remaining Pac-12 slate can’t get here soon enough.