UCLA Preview: Bruins Might Not Be as Bad as Record, Numbers Look

UCLA comes into Memorial Stadium looking statistically like a team with an 0-5 record, which they are. A glance at the Pac-12 numbers shows the Bruins at or near the bottom of virtually every meaningful category. 

They are are last in scoring (18.4 points per game), last in total offense (334.0 yards per game), tenth in rushing (185.8 ypg), last in passing (195.4 ypg), 11th in scoring defense (36.4 ppg), 11th in total defense (429.6 ypg), tenth in rushing defense (185.8 ypg), 11th in pass defense (243.8 ypg) and so it goes.

But UCLA has reason to be hopeful and Cal has reason to worry. The Bruins took on conference leader Washington last week, and with a robust second half gave the tenth-ranked Huskies all they could handle before losing, 31-24. Against the nation's top-ranked defense they scored more points and gained more yards, 422, than any previous Huskies opponent, including national power Auburn. They had cut the visitors lead to a single score inside the final two minutes, but failed to recover the onside kick attempt.

The Bruins might finally be catching on to new coach Chip Kelly's offense, and, the numbers nonwithstanding,  former Cal assistant Jerry Azzinaro has made some improvement in the defense that was among the worst (122 of 130 in total defense) a year ago.

"We all get how hard it is to be new, to be a new staff, putting your system in and how you do everything," Washington coach Chris Petersen said before facing the Bruins last week. .

"Each week they're getting a little bit better. Obviously, the respect we have for Chip and his staff -- those are smart guys. They'll stick to their process and their script and those guys will continually get better."

UCLA has played a much tougher schedule than the Bears, with four of their five foes currently ranked in the AP top 25 and the five having a combined 25-3 record. That seasoning will pay off one day, and Cal better hope it's not this week.

A closer look at the Bruins

Offense

Kelly was hired to recreate the magic he had at Oregon, where in four years as head coach he went 46-7 and made four appearances in the now defunct BCS. He  has not yet been able to generate the same dynamic offense he built in Eugene. Still the Bruins are looking better.

Grad transfer Wilton Speight, a former teammate of Cal's Ian Bunting and Moe Ways at Michigan, opened the season at quarterback but was in the injured in the opener and freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson (7, above) took over and has started the last four games. He has been improving almost play to play. Against the Huskies he completed  27-of-38 passes for a career-high 272 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. For the season he is 85-for-148 for 932 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. 

"Every week he's gotten better, that's what I love about him," Kelly said after the Washington game. "You can't manufacture every situation he's going to be in. You can't. And I think every time he's in something he learns from it. He's a lot of fun to coach. He thinks. When we get more reps and more experience from them the better he's going to be."

Kelly, who last month was criticized by Thompson-Robinson's father on Twitter,  went on to say his quarterback, "never makes the same mistake twice."

While he has only 36 net yards rushing (and a meager 119 gained), he is no tangle foot. "What he does a really good job of is he escapes the rush and keeps his eyes down the field," Cal defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said. "And makes completions on the run. Last week against Washington he was running to his left and made a throw down the sideline like a veteran would make.

"That's where you see the growth in this guy just in a matter of weeks. I don't know that he could have made that throw in the first couple of weeks. He's doing a really good job of scrambling and not just looking to run and get out of bounds. He's keeping his eyes down the field and hurting people with his arm."

The Bruins have discovered a running game with the emergence of Joshua Kelley. A transfer from UC Davis where he played two years, Kelley walked on in Westwood and has earned a scholarship. The Bruins have used a fleet of other running backs, including senior Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olorunfunmi and freshmen Kazmeir Allen and Martel Irby, but they keep coming back to Kelley. 

He had his real coming out party when he rushed for 124 yards in the loss to Colorado Sept. 28. Against Washington he had 125. That made him the first Bruin to run for more than 100 yards in consecutive games since Paul Perkins did it in 2015. He is ninth in the league in rushing, averaging 69.0 yards per game. But his per carry average of 6.4 is second among the top dozen rushers. 

And he never seems to let up. "He’s definitely the most energetic, the most positive guy on the team,” Thompson-Robinson said this week. “Coach (Chip Kelly) made a reference to him earlier this week, (saying) energy is a choice. So he definitely brings that, and I think it sparked everybody up this week.”

The 5-11, 204-pounder deflects the credit. "I think it's just me trusting my coaching and me trusting my reads," Kelley told the media after the Washington game. "These offensive linemen, tight ends have been great consistently throughout the year so it's just me knowing that like I just gotta trust in myself. I just gotta execute and that's what it is. I'm practicing better, I really went back to the basics. That's pretty much what's helped me. Coach (DeShaun) Foster has been giving me confidence to go out there so I appreciate that."

As expected when the team passing stats are so poor, UCLA does not have a receiver in the top 12 in the conference in either receptions or yardage per game. Their leading pass catcher is junior Theo Howard, who has 23 receptions for 264 yards. The 6-0, 182-pounder has a streak of at least one reception in 21 straight games.

Caleb Wilson at 6-4, 235 is one of the better pass catching tight ends in the conference, and is second on the team with 18 receptions. He is not known as much of a blocker, although his effort against Washington was probably his best of the year in that regard.

The offensive line has been patched together, the result of injuries and position changes. The most unusual move was shifting Boss Tagaloa from defensive lineman to center. 

"The offense has gotten better not just from last year but from game to game and Boss is a big part of that," said freshman defensive lineman Antonio Mali, who goes against Tagaloa daily in practice. "He knows how to leverage you, get you out of the gaps to open holes."

Tagaloa had some snafus with his calls and his snaps in his first game against Colorado, but that improved markedly agains the Huskies. And UCLA, which had allowed 15 sacks in the first four games did not give up so much as a tackle for a loss against UW.

“It all comes down to doing our job, making the right calls, everybody doing their technique and being focused on the guy we had to block,” Tagaloa said.

Senior right tackle Justin Murphy is the lastest offensive line casualty. He was injured two weeks ago, did not play against Washington and is likely out Saturday.

Defense

The UCLA defense is improved from last year, but considering they gave up 484 yards a game last year there was nowhere to go but up, and they haven't climbed all that far. 

The leading tackler is safety Adarius Pickett, which says a lot about the play of the Bruins' front seven. A lot of offensive players with the ball find their way into the secondary, either by rush or pass. It also is testimony to the season Pickett is having. He was just added to the watch list for the Ronnie Lott trophy.

"He brings a lot of energy, a lot of juice," Kelly said of Pickett. "He’s a really, really smart football player. He helps get the whole group aligned over there, not only the secondary but the linebackers, so I’m really happy with how he’s played so far."

The defense has been hit by injuries, especially in the linebacker position, where Josh Woods, Jaelan Phillips, Je’Vari Anderson and Mique Juarez  have all missed time or been playing at less than 100 per cent. However, Krys Barnes, who has been a steady force all year, had a breakout game against Washington and was a big reason the Bruins were able to keep Washington  under control in the second half. The Bruins, who run the same base 3-4 alignment Cal does,  gave Washington some different looks on defense and the Huskies had trouble keeping track of Barnes. He was credited with nine tackles, three for loss including a sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. 

The Bruins are among the youngest teams in the country, and it is especially true in the defensive line where three freshmen are seeing a lot of time on the field. Otito Ogbonnia,  Tyler Manoa and Mali are all regular rotation players and have combined for 23 tackles in the first five games. Mali, who switched his commitment from Cal to UCLA last year after Azzinaro left Berkeley for Westwood, checks in at 380 pounds, which is down from 411, he would be an obstacle if he stood still. But he has some mobility and is getting stronger. 

UCLA is last in the conference in time of possession, which means the Bruin defenders spend a lot of time on the field. 

Special teams

J.J. Molson is among the nation's best field goal kickers and is 5-for-6 this year. Punter Steven Flintloft averages 47.4 yards per kick and a net of 40.7, fourth best in the conference.

The Bruins are last in the conference in kickoff coverage, which means that Cal's Ashtyn Davis might have a chance to break another return.

Overall

Cal's fading bowl hopes will all but disappear with a loss to UCLA. Even if they win this one, and they arel favored by a touchdown, and beat Oregon State the following week they still will need an upset in their remaining five games (Washington, Washington State, USC, Stanford, Colorado) to hit six wins. 

Of course, despite the gambling odds, UCLA is looking at this one was winnable. If the Bruins' second half against Washington is an indication of improvement, they might be right.

Notes

• UCLA has not been 0-5 since it went 0-7 in 1943 before finally winning a game. Cal actually beat the Bruins twice that year..That was during World War II and travel was restricted. 
• UCLA leads the all-time series 54-33-1 and has won four of the last five games, including last year. But Cal has won eight of the last nine played in Berkeley. Much of the Bruins' advantage is the 18 straight times they beat the Bears from 1972-1989.
• UCLA is one of four winless FBS teams. The other three are San Jose State, Nebraska and UTEP.
• One indicator of UCLA's improvement against Washington was the Bruines third-down rate. They had a 57% per cent conversion rate going 8-for-14. In the previous four games they had converted 17-of-56 third down attempts pr 30 per cent. 
•  Kelly, who was out of coaching last year and working for ESPN, has not won a game since Dec. 24, 2016 during his one year as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
• This is the annual Joe Roth game, honoring the legendary Cal quarterback who died of cancer  shortly after his senior season of 1976. The Bears will wear uniforms and helmets from that era to honor Roth, whose number 12 is Cal's only retired number.
• Burl Toler Jr., this year's recipient of the Glenn T. Seaborg award, will be honored at halftime.