Each week, Daily Bruin Sports takes a look at the game film for UCLA football and grades each position group on its performance.
This week, we examine UCLA’s 40-24 win over Cal.
Quarterbacks: A-
Many are probably going to wonder why this grade isn’t an A or an A+. After all, Rosen did set the UCLA school record for completions and had 399 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. But there were a couple throws that could have made his performance even better.
Early in the second quarter, Rosen had redshirt junior receiver Kenny Walker open in the end zone, behind Cal cornerback Darius Allensworth. Rosen underthrew the deep pass just slightly, allowing Allensworth to bat the ball away and prevent a would-be 28-yard touchdown.
There was also a play in the first quarter when senior receiver Jordan Payton beat Allensworth 30 yards down the left sideline, but Rosen overthrew him.
Aside from that, Rosen made a couple risky throws that could have easily been intercepted. One came in the end zone late in the first quarter, when Payton had to become a defender to prevent Allensworth from making the interception. The second came early in the second quarter, when a Cal defender read Rosen’s eyes and nearly picked off a slant route at the UCLA 18-yard line. Make no mistake, Rosen still had a standout game, and his 34/47 performance was no fluke. But because of those two big missed throws and a couple near-interceptions, the performance wasn’t perfect.
Running backs: A
Redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins was on his way to another 100-yard performance before he went out with a knee injury in the second quarter. At that point, Perkins had 86 total yards and nine broken tackles on just 13 touches.
After Perkins went out, freshman running back Soso Jamabo did a nice job filling the void. Jamabo was particularly impressive in the passing game, making a key block on a third-down blitz on UCLA’s third drive, and also catching a 23-yard pass on that same possession. Jamabo ended the night with 79 yards on 4.4 yards per carry, but did have one lost fumble in the fourth quarter.
Wide receivers: A
For the first time in weeks, UCLA had a multifaceted receiving attack, instead of a two-dimensional one.
Junior Thomas Duarte and senior Jordan Payton retained their status as top targets, but Devin Fuller emerged as a key playmaker. The senior caught seven passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns – all season-highs.
Also, redshirt sophomore Darren Andrews made as big an impact with bubble screens as any UCLA receiver all year. Of his five catches, three were bubble screens that went for six, 10 and seven yards.
“The little bubble screens, they stretch the defense out and make ’em stay honest and play those three-by-one formations,” Duarte said. “And they make (the defenders) stay out there, they make guys commit to the run, and (we) just attack over the middle.”
Duarte was particularly effective over the middle, making five of his career-high 10 catches between the hash marks, for 50 yards. Two of those catches came after Rosen initially had the option to hit Andrews on a bubble screen.
As a whole, the UCLA wide receivers improved drastically from previous weeks – both in gaining separation and in executing plays. Granted, they were playing against a porous secondary from Cal, but they only dropped one pass as a unit. Also, Payton made a key play in the game by preventing a Cal defender from intercepting a pass in the end zone.
Offensive line: B+
The toughest thing about facing the Golden Bears’ defense, statistically speaking, is containing their pass rush. Entering Thursday’s game, Cal’s defense ranked No. 13 in the nation in sacks per game.
UCLA’s offensive line did a good job of keeping sacks out of the equation, allowing only one on the night. What’s more impressive is that the Bruins did that with a redshirt freshman – Kolton Miller – starting at left tackle for the first time in his career.
Miller looked vastly improved from his subpar performance against Stanford last week. He picked up the edge rushers much better, and also did a nice job pulling across the offensive line for one of Perkins’ 12-yard runs in the first quarter.
The offensive line still had some problems with penalties, committing two holding infractions, but that’s a big improvement from the Stanford game, which saw the UCLA offensive line commit 35 yards worth of penalties in the first half alone.
Defensive line: A+
The UCLA defensive linemen got to try something new against Cal.
For the first time this year, UCLA ran defensive plays with zero down linemen. In fact, the Bruins ran several plays like that against Cal’s vertical-set blocking scheme.
There were also more stunts up front, after an uneventful and ineffective performance from the defensive line against Stanford. The result was UCLA’s best defensive line performance since Sept. 19 against BYU.
Defensive end Takkarist McKinley thrived in the new defensive setup, taking advantage of his speed and quickness off the edge against Cal’s flat-footed blockers. The junior finished the game with 0.5 sacks and several quarterback pressures.
“We felt like with just straight speed we could get around that corner, because if you beat ’em to the spot you can get ’em,” McKinley said. “If you don’t, even in vertical-set, you can just bull rush ’em and just get to the quarterback. So that vertical set helped us out a lot.”
UCLA’s potent pass rush had Cal on its heels. That much was epitomized by a play early in the second quarter, when UCLA’s defensive line actually forced Cal into a false start penalty.
What was perhaps most important about the defensive line was that it didn’t wear down as the game progressed. That has been a problem in recent weeks – especially against Arizona State and Stanford – but in the Cal game, UCLA recorded four of its five sacks in the fourth quarter.
Overall, the Bruins’ defensive linemen looked like the aggressors in the Cal game – a far cry from the Stanford game a week earlier.
Linebackers: A
This position group has fluctuated quite a bit over the last four games. Not only has it suffered through injuries, it has also suffered through inconsistencies. After a mistake-ridden performance against Arizona – which included 21 missed tackles – the linebackers came back and allowed 157 yards after contact to Arizona State. Then, against Stanford, the Bruins allowed 168 yards before contact, failing to pursue the ball carrier on several occasions.
But against Cal, the linebackers finally put together a solid performance for four quarters. Their run defense was vastly improved, allowing only 3.7 yards per rush on 35 attempts; in the previous three games, UCLA had allowed an average of 6.5 yards per carry.
The difference maker was Jayon Brown. The junior supplanted sophomore Kenny Young at the starting “Will” linebacker position, and did a solid job in both run and pass coverage. Brown finished the game tied for the team lead with seven tackles and two pass breakups. Senior linebacker Aaron Wallace also shined with three sacks in the game.
Defensive backs: A-
We can’t start this section without mentioning John Johnson.
Entering the game, the redshirt sophomore cornerback looked to be the potential weak point of the Bruin defense. He was in his first career start, facing one of the nation’s best passing teams in Cal. Beyond that, he had to play in press coverage on the perimeter for most of the game, with Cal having a tendency for short screen passes.
The Bears tested Johnson early, but quickly discovered that he wouldn’t be a pushover. Johnson allowed just one catch for nine yards in the game, essentially shutting down the deep ball on the left side of the field.
“(Cal) tried him, and he did a nice job,” said coach Jim Mora. “We put him out there on an island a lot against some really good receivers.”
There were certain plays were Goff wanted to test the inexperienced Johnson, but simply couldn’t. On a third-and-10 play midway through the second quarter, Goff took a look to Johnson’s man on the left side, but had to progress to his secondary read on the right side because Johnson’s coverage was so good. The play led to an incompletion and a punt by the Bears.
“(Johnson) stayed on top of the receivers and challenged (them),” Mora said. “He found the ball when he needed to. He played well. I was excited about that for him. It’s fun to see him have that success – he needs that.”
Aside from Johnson, several members of the Bruin secondary held their own against the pass-heavy Cal offense. They limited Goff to five completions on 19 throws beyond 10 yards, with Goff’s biggest pass coming on a trick play.
As well as the UCLA secondary played, its job requirements were eased significantly by the defensive line’s standout performance in the pass rush.
Special teams: A+
What else can be said of senior kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn this year? He leads the nation in touchback percentage on kickoffs – 68 of his 90 kickoffs have been touchbacks – and he’s only missed one field goal all year.
Fairbairn added to his list of accomplishments in the Cal game, setting a UCLA record with a 60-yard field goal to end the first half. That kick broke the record set by former UCLA kicker Chris Sailer, who happens to be one of Fairbairn’s personal kicking coaches.
“(Sailer) was here tonight, he actually texted me before the game. I think he might be a little mad so I’ll give him a call and say sorry,” Fairbairn said. “I owe it all to him; he’s got me here and he’s always kept in contact and always given me tips. So I want to thank him for that.”