School is still not in session for UCLA, but that doesn’t mean it’s too early to hand out some grades.
Terribly cheesy intro aside, here’s the unit-by-unit report card for the Bruins’ 17-14 win over BYU.
Quarterbacks: C+
Josh Rosen said himself after the BYU game that the performance was a “step back” for him. The pass protection wasn’t the best, but the sophomore quarterback seemed to have a little trouble reading the defense.
He often missed decent options underneath in search of a bigger play downfield. On this key third-and-four in the fourth quarter, Rosen doesn’t see redshirt junior wide receiver Darren Andrews or junior running back Nate Starks free for likely first-down gains and tries unsuccessfully to fit the ball into a deeper window.
And on a handful of occasions, he simply made bad throws.
This overthrow of redshirt senior wide receiver Ishmael Adams could have shaken up the complexion of the game had BYU defensive back Matt Hadley secured the interception.
The offensive line actually did a decent job on the play giving its quarterback time, but Rosen decided to escape the pocket and throw on the run when he didn’t really need to, leading to an overthrow of a wide-open receiver.
The sophomore quarterback, of course, was hurt significantly by a putrid UCLA rushing attack. He’s at his best operating with play-action, and BYU simply wasn’t scared of the running game one bit.
In fact, even with the Bruins leading, Rosen had to keep throwing until the very end of the game because the offense could find no success on the ground. Nine of UCLA’s final 12 offensive plays were passes, an astounding statistic for a team that enjoyed a two-score lead throughout the final period.
Faced with that pressure, Rosen made enough plays in the fourth quarter to ice the game, completing five straight short passes on the Bruins’ final clock-dwindling drive.
Running backs: B–
You’re probably thinking this is an awfully high grade for a group of backs that produced less than 2 yards per carry. The reality is the failures of the ground attack did not fall on this unit’s shoulders.
BYU sent run blitzes throughout the game and overpowered the UCLA blocking setups, getting defenders in the backfield on seemingly every run play. Check out these still frames from the Bruins’ three-and-out drive at the end of the first half.
First down:
Second down:
Third down:
Three straight plays, three straight times that running back Nate Starks was met in the backfield.
Starks came away with only 3 total yards on those runs, but considering the blocking breakdowns in front of him, that was a commendable output.
After sitting out the first two games with what he called an “in-house issue,” Starks led the Bruins with 39 yards and had to work a few minor miracles even to get those.
Check out his run on the second down shown above, which is pretty impressive but went for just a single yard.
Starks broke a whopping seven tackles on his 15 carries, per Pro Football Focus. He looked elusive throughout the game despite BYU’s continued penetration into the backfield.
It’s unclear why sophomore running back Soso Jamabo sat out the game, but it was nice to see Starks get an extended opportunity, even if it was marred by the poor blocking in front of him.
Wide receivers and tight ends: B
By far the most encouraging statistic for this unit was its number of drops: zero. After leading the nation in drops through the first two weeks of the season, according to Pro Football Focus, UCLA’s pass-catchers hung on to everything in their vicinity Saturday.
The Bruins’ search for a reliable third-down option is still ongoing, but several receivers continued to compete for that title.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Darren Andrews caught multiple passes for the 11th consecutive game, hauling in four passes for a team-best 91 yards. He also committed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for the second straight week, but bounced back to notch UCLA’s second touchdown.
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Lasley also caught four passes, including a pair of third-down conversions in the second half, and redshirt senior wide receiver Kenneth Walker III reeled in a 16-yard completion on a third-and-seven.
Though redshirt senior wide receiver Ishmael Adams only caught two balls, he continued to show growth in his switch to the offensive side of the ball. A shifty playmaker once he has the ball, Adams is starting to look like one of the Bruins’ more polished route-runners.
Take a look at this in route from Adams. He’s in the slot at the top of the screen, and after selling his initial movement, he cuts in quickly and breaks the route slightly upfield to ward off the defender and gain inside leverage on a man that lined up several yards inside of him.
Adams also snagged a bullet from Rosen on an intermediate route late in the third quarter and took off for a 27-yard gain. On a couple other occasions, too, Adams found holes in the defense only for Rosen to overthrow him.
His development as an offensive weapon could help the Bruins immensely throughout the rest of the season.
At the tight end slot, redshirt senior Nate Iese continued to see the majority of the action and caught two passes for 34 yards, but his struggles as a run blocker were a big reason the ground game struggled to get going.
On this first-quarter run, Iese is sent in motion to the right side but fails to get his hands on Harvey Langi, who pushes into the backfield and disrupts the movement of fullback Cameron Griffin and pulling left guard Kenny Lacy.
Because Iese can’t even slow his progress, Langi ends up occupying three blockers and linebacker Butch Pau’u flies in to stop Starks for a 3-yard loss.
Offensive line: C-
In pass protection, these guys were decent, but in the run game, they were exposed mercilessly by the BYU front.
The alarming amount of penetration the Cougars produced cannot simply be explained by their run-blitzing tendencies. The Bruins also had a very poor day up front, especially on the right side of the line.
Redshirt sophomore right tackle Kolton Miller graded quite negatively in both pass protection and run blocking, per Pro Football Focus, and junior right guard Najee Toran posted by far the worst single-game run-blocking grade of a UCLA offensive lineman this year.
Watch BYU end Moses Kaumatule wearing No. 49 knife past both Miller and Toran to blow up this run play in the first quarter.
I could have used footage from nearly any run play to illustrate the line’s failures, but I chose this one from late in the third quarter because not only does pretty much everyone fail to complete their assignments, Lacy is also called for a hold.
Because of the penalty, that was probably the worst play of the day for the line. But there were plenty of bad ones.
Defensive Line: A-
With the two stars senior end Takkarist McKinley and redshirt junior tackle Eddie Vanderdoes back on Saturday, this unit was as disruptive as ever.
McKinley and Vanderdoes combined for eight hurries, three quarterback hits and a sack while only playing 44 and 49 snaps, respectively.
Vanderdoes caused problems all night on the interior, and you can see the effect of McKinley’s speed on this second-quarter option by BYU.
Across the line, UCLA looked more comfortable with its new 4-3 system than it did in previous games. On any given play, multiple Bruins won their one-on-one matchups and shot into gaps to stymie BYU back Jamal Williams.
Even when BYU neared the UCLA goal line in the third quarter, the Bruin front seven nearly held the Cougars out of the end zone by getting tremendous push up front.
The Bruins rotated in nine different linemen, allowing them to stay fresh against a BYU offensive line that started to wear down. In the fourth quarter, BYU quarterback Taysom Hill – who played poorly all game – looked hapless against the UCLA pass rush.
Linebackers: A-
Weak-side linebacker Jayon Brown anchored the run defense with the best game of his career, posting the highest grade of any UCLA player, according to Pro Football Focus.
Brown looked like a man possessed for much of the night, getting off blocks to stuff runs up the middle and using his speed to keep BYU quarterback Taysom Hill from escaping to the outside. He had more than a handful of highlight plays, but I’ll just pick out a couple.
Here he is stuffing an inside run by jumping backward to avoid a cut block attempt, then continuing forward to tackle the ball-carrier.
That’s tremendous work, the type that Brown does game in and game out. What he doesn’t usually do is harass the opposing quarterback whenever he tries to run anywhere. He did that against BYU, sitting in “coverage” of Hill and then instinctively flying downhill when he had a read on Hill’s movement.
Watch here how he avoids engaging with the BYU blocker on this play so he can track Hill and prevent him from getting the edge.
Fearful that Hill could hurt the Bruins the way previous mobile quarterbacks had, UCLA used both Brown and middle linebacker Kenny Young to cover Hill at points during the game. Both delivered, with Young looking more aggressive than in the first two games.
Young also looked strong in pass coverage, moving with more decisiveness than in weeks past.
Defensive backs: B+
Hill had a bad day throwing the ball, but part of that can be attributed to the coverage of the Bruins’ secondary. Redshirt senior Fabian Moreau continued his strong play, though he did get called for a hold, and fellow cornerback Nate Meadors bounced back from a tough game against UNLV to hold Cougar receivers to just 16 yards on eight targets, according to Pro Football Focus.
McKinley’s lone sack was the result of extended strong coverage from the defensive backs, as he had time to rush towards the interior and spin back toward Hill.
It was good to see junior safety Jaleel Wadood back on the field, as his speed and instincts are crucial for the Bruins in corralling opponents on the edge. Watch how quick he accelerates from his deep safety spot to help bottle up this screen action from BYU.
Redshirt sophomore Adarius Pickett continues to see extended time, operating both as a nickel corner and a safety. Pickett and Brown were the only two Bruins to play every snap, with the redshirt sophomore contributing five tackles and his second interception of the season on an athletic diving play.