The Eye Test: UCLA Looks "Improved" Against Penn State

Not necessarily good, but better than previous weeks by some degree.

Justyn Martin had a fine game in his debut as starter. (Photo credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images/uclabruins.com)

---

For those who missed last week, the Eye Tests in general are going to be shorter going forward, if only because there are only so many ways to say “good lord this team is bad” before it stops being fun to read or write. As an extra aside, I did the postgame this week, so you can read some basic thoughts on the game right over here.

That said, I’m going to focus on one or two positives in each section this week. That doesn’t mean the grades will be improved drastically - they’re still rather low in a few spots - but I wanted to highlight some positivity before what could be an avalanche of negative thoughts should UCLA lose a winnable game against Minnesota this week.

Let’s get into it!

Offense

Quarterback: B(!)

This will be quick, because I already talked about him in the postgame article, but Justyn Martin had a very good game on the road for his first career start. In fact, the performance was so good that it leaves you wondering how he would have done if the coaching staff opened things up more offensively, but that’s a thought process for another day, and a coaching staff that wants to win games instead of manage losses. Still, 22-30 for 167 yards and one touchdown to go with no interceptions is a really good game, and provides the biggest spark of hope for the future.

Offensive Line: D

Overall: D+

I’m going to highlight the offensive line in this section. Not that it was particularly good, mind you, but because there was a shakeup in the lineup that produced the best outing for this group all season. Niki Prongos, who has somehow turned into a Swiss Army Knife of decent line play, moved over to left tackle in this game and was adequate, while Sam Yoon took a start at center so that Josh Carlin could move back over to right guard and solidify that side. There were still the usual problems - run blocking was still bad and there were the typical communication issues that led to blitzes not getting picked up - but it was better so it might be interesting to see if this particular iteration can gel going forward.

Defense

Overall: B+

UCLA found something resembling a pass rush in this game! It wasn’t consistent by any means, but the fact that the Bruins broke their sackless streak on the road in this game is nothing to sneeze at. Oluwafemi Oladejo found more success as a hybrid defensive end, and at this point, the coaching staff has seemingly identified him as their best option on the edge.

Beyond this, I felt the defense in general played fairly well. Penn State had too much talent to overcome the massive flaws in UCLA’s defense and team in general, but the defense played generally sound football and did not make critical mistakes, instead forcing Penn State to earn every yard they got. That’s about as good as you could ask for in this situation.

Special Teams

Overall: B+

Keegan Jones Stop Running Out the Kickoff Challenge update: still failed.

I am enjoying UCLA’s kicking situation this year, for the most part. Mateen Bhaghani has been consistent on field goals, but I’ve been impressed with Brody Richter’s punts on the year and in this game, with an average of 45 yards on his four kicks doing a good job of making Penn State have to go on long drives for points. They’ve been the most consistent bright spot on the team this season.

Coaching

Defensive Gameplan: B

I’m willing to state this was as good a game plan as you are likely to see from the defensive coaching staff all year. That might not seem good considering I only gave this group a B, but the lower grade has to do with a belief that the coaching staff should probably damn the torpedoes more often and try to create as much havoc as possible, with more exotic blitzes and press coverage to force uncomfortable throws from the quarterbacks. Right now the defense is playing the numbers, doing everything they can to keep everything in front of them and force opponents into long marches to score. The general problem has been that the Bruins have faced four straight teams that are more than comfortable with doing just that, with offensive coaches that aren’t going to overthink a good thing. That should shift more in the coming weeks, so we should see better defensive play in the future.

All that said, I am going to end this section on a bit of a down note before getting to the overall (which is more of a downer than other parts of the Eye Test). I had a conversation with a coach from a prominent SoCal high school football program last Saturday, and he was of the opinion that Ikaika Malloe should be on the outs. I was curious for the reasoning, and this coach pointed out that the biggest problem with the defense at the moment was Malloe’s responsibility the past few years, which is hard to argue. Malloe has been with the team since 2021, first as outside linebackers coach before shifting to the defensive line for the 2023 season. In one of those cycles, UCLA brought in a good set of pass rushers in Laiatu Latu and the Murphy twins but failed to bring in or develop any suitable replacements in the past two cycles. That’s a problem that could be solved in future recruiting cycles by having a better recruiting coach in that spot, but that’s up in the air. I personally think Malloe has done enough to show that he has the chops for the defensive coordinator position on a tactical level, but it was an interesting conversation nonetheless.

Offensive Gameplan: D

Overall: D

(You should also know this same coach felt the entire offensive coaching staff should be gone after this season, singling out Eric Bieniemy and Juan Castro in particular for being bad at their jobs. So there’s that, at least.)

If I had a takeaway from the offensive game plan and general strategy of this game, it would be that the coaching staff did not coach to try and win the game, but rather to manage the size of the loss. For a team that scored 11 points, the Bruins won the time-of-possession battle and are dragging out possessions thanks to the long pauses between each play. Nothing highlights this idea more than UCLA’s last drive, a meandering, plodding touchdown drive against the Penn State second-string that lasted 7:26 of game time. It was the kind of drive that left you feeling hollow; you’re excited that UCLA scored a touchdown, but the manner in which it happened left you with more questions than answers.

Not to pile on Bieniemy more than is necessary, but it is interesting to note that, yet again, an opponent made an adjustment to the gameplan that Bieniemy created, and he had no answer for it. UCLA found success in the first half, but from halftime on, the Bruins managed just 23 yards during the competitive portion of the game. The Bruins also failed to convert their red zone trips into touchdowns until that final drive yet again, more signs of failure for a coach who is stealing a paycheck at this point. It is frustrating because Justyn Martin showed signs that he could handle more, and the offensive line found something resembling below-average play, yet the coaching staff was seemingly prepared to roll over.

The crux of the problem is this: UCLA is not particularly good this year, so you have to shift into establishing your culture and how you want the program to approach things. In a game, that would involve doing everything you can to try and win, even if you know deep down that the chances of victory are slim. That isn’t what we’re seeing from the Bruins; rather, we’re watching a team that is trying but a coaching staff who is trying to manage things to not look as bad as they are. It’s a tragic situation with only one path forward, the only question is when people will realize it.

Trending

Trend: Neutral

Here’s the thing about this being an “improved” performance: that does not mean it was a good performance, and it is hard to say that things are trending in a positive direction overall.

UCLA only scored three points in the competitive portion of this game. The defense played well but was stuck trying to keep things as close as possible. There was no real effort to win the game from an offensive coaching standpoint, just an effort to manage the loss. This game was the football equivalent of spinning your tires in the mud, hoping the grip would catch and pull you free.

Final Composite

Offense grade: D+ (1.3)

Defense grade: B+ (3.3)

Special Teams grade: B+ (3.3)

Coaching grade: D (1.0)

Trending: Neutral

Final grade for Penn State Nittany Lions: C+ (2.2)

And as a reminder, here are the scores from other games this year:

Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors: C (1.9)

Indiana Hoosiers: F (0.6)

LSU Tigers: F (0.6)

Oregon Ducks: D+ (1.3)

---

I think it’s unsurprising this game graded out the best of the year. This was maybe the first game all year that did not leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth the entire time, and there were positives to highlight throughout. The biggest problems are the same ones that have existed all year, highlighted by a coaching staff that refuses to put the team in a position to win.

Which brings me to this Minnesota game. In the preseason preview (which has turned out to be extremely accurate so far save for me believing the Indiana game would be close. I’ll own that mistake) I said the following about this particular game:

If you are optimistic about the season, this game should be circled on your calendar because it is as clear a pivot point as you are going to get this year. Minnesota is one of the weaker teams in the Big Ten currently, but the Bruins will be coming off a brutal three-game stretch, so it’s hard to say what state they will be in physically and mentally heading into this game. UCLA is very thin at a variety of positions, so any injuries to a starter (such as Ethan Garbers, who has a prior injury history) could make things extremely difficult.

It’s hard to label any game on this schedule a must-win (even Southern Cal feels like a game where it would be nice to win, but not paramount to the trajectory of the program under Foster per se) but this might be close. With the game at home, UCLA has to get a win here, if only to prove some level of resiliency to the fanbase at large. A loss here would feel like the beginning of a downward spiral given how the rest of the schedule shakes out.

Wow, I nailed every part of that! UCLA has shown itself to be thin at a variety of positions, including at offensive line, and Ethan Garbers has already gotten hurt enough to miss one start. The schedule was as brutal as anticipated, and this game has turned into a must-win just to try and see some kind of positive trajectory in the Deshaun Foster Project. A loss here would put 1-11 firmly on the table.

Time to see if this program has any fight, I guess.

Go Bruins.

---

Thanks again for supporting The Mighty Bruin. Your paid subscriptions make this site possible. Questions, comments, story ideas, angry missives and more can be sent to @TheMightyBruin on Twitter.