It has been a tough season so far for the UCLA defense.
In the team’s first game of the season against Tennessee, overshadowed by the euphoria of a 27-24 win in overtime was the defense’s inability to stop the Volunteer offense from driving 27 yards in 23 seconds for the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation.
Then there was the 59-0 disaster against Brigham Young, followed more recently by the 8-minute-55-second drive Fresno State used to run out the clock and seal a loss for the Bruins.
Yet in Saturday’s 28-3 win over Washington State on Saturday, the defense could stand tall about the effort it put forth, limiting the Cougars to 177 net yards, the lowest total of any opponent since Oregon was held to 148 yards in a 16-0 win last season.
One area in which the defense improved was in applying pressure to the quarterback. In the previous four games, the Bruin defense had just four sacks. Yet against Washington State, the Bruins totaled four sacks.
Defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said that the unit had previously had trouble getting enough push in the