If they’ve said it once they’ve said it a thousand
times.
UCLA’s defensive line is getting better. They’ve
been ravaged by injuries, but they’ve overcome. They were
plagued by inexperience, but they’re learning.
Still, the criticisms endure.
First it was the rush defense, which was pretty hard to ignore
after the 426 yards Oklahoma State gained in the season opener. And
now it might be the pass rush, after Arizona State quarterback
Andrew Walter had tons of time last Saturday to sit back in the
pocket and torch the Bruins for 415 yards and six touchdowns.
“We need to work on every area,” defensive
coordinator Larry Kerr said. “We’re doing some things
well, but we’re just not doing it consistently, whether
it’s pass rush or run defense.”
It’s true that the rush defense has improved. Arizona
State gained only 121 yards on the ground, only the second time all
season the Bruins held an opponent under 200 rushing yards. Then
again, with a quarterback throwing for 415 yards, a rushing game
isn’t exactly necessary.
But for the Bruins to have success, a pass rush is necessary.
Therein lies the problem, as UCLA has recorded only eight sacks all
season, for a combined loss of 39 yards. Compare that to seasons
past, when the experienced defensive line finished with 30 sacks in
2003 and 41 sacks in 2002.
“There’s been some times where we’ve shown
some good things (with the pass rush),” Kerr said. “It
still needs to come more. We’re obviously not like last year
where we could just sit in a four-man rush all the time, but we
would like to continue to develop that.
“And that’s an area we’re working
on.”
Determining the root of the problem is no easy task. But
according to starting defensive tackle Eyoseph Efseaff, it starts
with stopping the run.
“They kind of interchange together,” Efseaff said.
“Our first priority is really to stop the run and force them
to be a one-dimensional team. That way we can tee off on them, do
our pass-rush moves, and get after the quarterback.”
It serves to reason that the team’s inability to stop the
run has fueled its relative ineffectiveness in attacking the
quarterback. If the defensive line has to focus so much on stopping
the run, it won’t be able to challenge the quarterback when
he drops back to pass.
“If you can predict a team into a situation where you know
they’re going to throw the ball, then you can give them a
green light to go get the quarterback,” defensive line coach
Don Johnson said. “If you do too much of that, it makes the
run defense suspect because guys are running up the field, creating
some gaps that linebackers can’t fill.”
UCLA just hasn’t been able to get into many situations
where it can predict the pass. Teams are still averaging 237.3
rushing yards per game, and 5.5 yards per carry against the Bruin
defense.
“Just like I said, you’ve got to stop one to be able
to get to number two,” Efseaff said. “If we stop the
run, we can get into our pass defense. We were seeing a lot more
run earlier in the year. Now we’re seeing more pass as
we’re starting to stop the run.”
Just how good the Bruins will be able to get remains to be seen.
But there is still confidence.
“I don’t think there’s any
disappointment,” Johnson said. “They’re young;
they’re learning; it’s a growing process for them.
“As long as you see the constant growth and they keep
improving, you’re building a foundation for the
future.”
It’s a foundation Johnson, now in his fifth year with the
Bruins, has seen before.
“I remember when Dave Ball, and Mat Ball and Rodney Leisle
and those guys were freshmen,” Johnson said. “They
weren’t perfect. There were a lot of things that they had to
learn and grow and develop.”
They grew up to become one of the best lines in UCLA history, as
Dave Ball finished last season with 16.5 sacks. This year’s
entire line is on pace for less than that. But if the team can
somehow stop the run, hope remains.
“I think it will (come around),” Kerr said. “I
have high anticipations that it will. I’m looking for us to
break through and have one of those games where all of a sudden
everything clicks.”