Every UCLA football weekend has so much more to it than a win or a loss. That’s why each postgame Monday, the Daily Bruin will break down the Bruins’ most recent game, outlining the good, the bad and the verdict for their performance.
This week, we take a closer look at No. 14 UCLA’s 40-35 win over No. 11 Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl.
The Good: First-half coaching
UCLA jumped out to a 31-6 halftime lead, largely thanks to an aggressive game plan installed by its coaches. Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone spent the month before the bowl game adding some creative wrinkles to his playbook, and he showed them off on just the second play of the game.
Redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley ran an option play, faking a handoff to redshirt sophomore running back Paul Perkins, then sprinting on his own to the left, outside the hash marks. The play turned into a triple option when Hundley fired a backward pass to redshirt junior receiver Devin Lucien once the defense collapsed on the run. The play functioned much the way Mazzone’s frequently run swing passes do, getting playmakers isolated on the outside and in open space, but the extra creativity in it made the play even more successful. Lucien gained 34 yards on the play, and on the several other occasions when Bruins ran that play – as well as other similarly designed ones – the result was big yardage.
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich called one of the best defensive halves that UCLA has played this year, completely changing the scheme of his unit from the way it played at the start of the year. Early in the season, Ulbrich wanted a no-gimmick defense predicated on individual assignments and gap control. The Bruins didn’t look like an elite defense for several weeks. In the first half of Friday’s Alamo Bowl, “elite” was the only word that could describe the unit. Ulbrich excelled at creating pressure on Kansas State’s quarterback, frequently sending linebackers and defensive backs on blitzes and having the defensive linemen use stunts to confuse the offense. Without time to throw the ball, Kansas State couldn’t find an offensive rhythm in the first half.
The Bad: Second-half secondary
The defense cooled off a bit in the second half, and the Wildcats made the Bruins pay through the air. Kansas State wide receivers Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton dominated UCLA’s defensive backs, finishing the game with a combined 23 catches for 268 yards and two touchdowns.
With a bit less UCLA pressure, Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters had time to throw, and Lockett and Sexton had time to get open. Coach Jim Mora did say earlier in the week that Lockett may just be the best receiver UCLA would face this season, and he lived up to the praise. Junior cornerback Ishmael Adams and sophomore cornerback Priest Willis got beat multiple times by Lockett, leaving him wide open on both of his touchdown receptions. Willis did make one nice play on the ball, intercepting it and nearly returning it for a touchdown, but the play was nullified by a personal foul call on Willis.
All in all, UCLA’s inability to limit Lockett in the second half nearly cost the Bruins the game.
The Verdict: Forward progress
With the victory, UCLA finished with a 10-win season for the second consecutive year and almost assuredly will finish ranked in the top 15. After the preseason talk of the Bruins competing for a playoff spot or the national title, 10 wins and an Alamo Bowl trophy may seem like chump change, but looking at the growth of the team within the season and over Mora’s three years, UCLA continues to move incrementally toward elite national status.
In Mora’s first year, UCLA finished outside the top 25 with a 9-5 record, ending the year with a blowout loss to Baylor in the Holiday Bowl. Last season, the Bruins improved to 10-3 and finished No. 16 in the AP poll. Having just closed out another 10-3 season with a win over the nation’s No. 11 team, the No. 14 Bruins are likely to rise in the rankings.
Even with the departures of key players like Hundley and redshirt senior inside linebacker Eric Kendricks, the future looks bright for UCLA.
Player of the Game: Sophomore outside linebacker Deon Hollins
Sure, Kendricks and Perkins were named the game’s most valuable players, but Hollins was the disruptive force that fueled the Bruins’ defense all game long as he played the best game of his career.
On Kansas State’s first possession alone, Hollins nearly came up with two sacks and forced Waters to throw the ball away both times. He was constantly in the Wildcats’ backfield, thanks to his blazingly quick first step and reaction to the snap. Hollins admitted after the game that he picked up on Kansas State’s snap count while watching film and used that to jump the snap almost perfectly.
Hollins finished with three sacks and two quarterback hurries, but the pressure he consistently created helped other Bruins get sacks and generally disrupted the Wildcats’ offense.
Quote of the Game: Junior wide receiver Jordan Payton on replacing Hundley
“Whoever is going to start next year – whoever that is – they’re walking into keys to a Ferrari right now.”
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.