UCLA Football: Position Grades for an outstanding win at Stanford
By Ryan Kay
The UCLA defense plays great once again making big plays and stopping the Stanford offense from advancing into Bruin territory for most of the game.
Defensive Line: A-
The Bruins were a force up front all game. They didn’t stand out like other groups on the defense, and Laiatu Latu didn’t have an amazing multi-sack game, but the defensive line allowed a very low amount of rushing yards and they shut down the Stanford rushing game on Saturday. This group once again took up space up front, disrupted the offensive line’s ability to protect the Cardinal quarterback, and allowed the UCLA linebackers to do their job more effectively. Gabriel Murphy led the defensive line with two sacks.
Linebackers: A+
Darius Muasau was great, leading the team in tackles with six with four of them being solo tackles and he got a pass deflection as well. Kain Medrano played well again on Saturday, racking up five total tackles, two tackles for loss, and one pass deflection. The group had five of the top leading tacklers and they appear to be getting better every game, and they played almost flawlessly against the Cardinals.
Secondary: A-
As the front seven did their job against the Stanford offense, the UCLA secondary dared the Cardinals quarterback Ashton Daniels to throw the ball. Stanford wasn’t able to get much going through the air on Saturday as Daniels completed 27 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown. Senior defensive back John Humphrey had an interception, senior Alex Johnson was tied for second in tackles for the game for the Bruins with five, and Kenny Churchwell III and Devin Kirkwood played well in the secondary.
The secondary didn’t necessarily stand out on the stat sheet, but it was successful against the Cardinal offense nonetheless. The Cardinal receivers for the most part were not getting open all game long, and while the UCLA secondary didn’t get multiple interceptions on Saturday night, they also didn’t give up any big plays that resulted in touchdowns.