The Eye Test: UCLA Screws Around, Still Beats Colorado

UCLA was in control for the vast majority of this game, even if the scoreboard disagreed.

Nov 01, 2023

Laiatu Latu and the Bruin defense had a field day on Saturday. (Photo credit: uclabruins.com)

I’ve been going to the Rose Bowl for close to 30 years now (my parents, in their infinite wisdom, started taking me at a really really young age) and I’ve gotten to experience some big highs and some low lows in that time. But I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a more frustrating game than the one we were privy to on Saturday.

By all rights, UCLA won this game handily. After a solid opening drive from Colorado, the UCLA defense essentially shut down the Colorado offense until the game was firmly out of reach. At no point did it feel like Colorado could block the UCLA defensive line enough times consecutively to mount a consistent offense, yet at the same time the score was 7-6 at the half and I felt like I was going to give myself a hernia from all the yelling. The UCLA offense was able to move the ball at times but four turnovers were inexcusable, as was the random nature of the playcalling and inability to get consistent run blocking from the offensive line. This should have been another momentum game from the offense and yet we’re stuck with more questions than answers.

Let’s break it down a bit more.

Offense

Quarterback: C+

Ethan Garbers was fine but unspectacular. It’s pretty clear that his recognition of when to scramble is much more developed than Dante Moore at this point, which is helping the offense find a bit more flow, but it’s probably not good from an offensive design standpoint that it relies so much on the quarterback having to do so. The first half was not a great outing from him, punctuated by the interception that looked exactly like the ones Moore had thrown in prior games. He overthrew a few receivers as well and generally seems tentative to push the ball down the field unless the receiver is completely wide open, as we saw on the two passes to open up the second half. It was good to see him settle down more in the second half, though he got away with what would have been a sure interception in the end zone had the ball not been tipped at the line.

All that said, Garbers has performed well against two incredibly bad defenses. Arizona represents a huge step up in quality, so it will be interesting to see how Garbers performs in that game. I have doubts based on how this game went, but we’ll see.

Grade is lower overall mostly because of Collin Schlee. For anyone clamoring for him to be the first-string QB, I think this game did a good job of showing why he is mostly in for gadget plays. His lone pass attempt was a case of not reading the defensive backs and just launching a ball into coverage leading to an easy interception. Schlee can run and shows great stuff in the open field, but you need to be able to pass as well to succeed against this level of competition on a down-to-down basis.

Running Backs: D+

A lot of this wasn’t great. Carson Steele found a lot of success between the tackles, but he had two really bad fumbles and that was enough to essentially end his night early. That meant TJ Harden was forced to become more of a bellcow, and while he works great running to the outside, the Bruins kept having him go inside for minimal gain. Some of those bad runs were a result of bad playcalls into a stacked box, some were the result of poor blocking by the OL, and some were simply Harden either not being strong enough to break an initial tackle or not seeing the holes quick enough. The running backs by themselves got to 155 yards and a 4.8 YPC number, but that was way more grindy than you’d like.

Receivers: B

Logan Loya had what will probably be the catch of the season, with his toe-dragging sideline grab not only becoming an instant highlight but, from a game flow perspective, keeping a UCLA drive alive immediately after Colorado had scored, letting the Bruins march down the field for a third touchdown that essentially put the game away.

Colorado made a concerted effort to take J.Michael Sturdivant out of the game, consistently putting multiple defenders on him. It didn’t feel like the best strategy considering Chip Kelly seemingly has an aversion to throwing to the outside in this offense. I feel bad for Sturdivant in that he’s incredibly talented but Kelly refuses to find ways to get him the ball.

Offensive Line: C-

On rewatch, I don’t think the pass protection was too bad, certainly one of the better outings of the year. Many of Garbers’s keepers were more because of good coverage downfield than any breakdowns in protection, and the few breakdowns that actually occurred tend to end in a sack anyway. Run blocking was much worse, with the offensive line failing to get a consistent push against a bad Colorado defensive front. Just like with the running backs, some of this boils down to poor playcalling against a stacked box that made it hard for the offensive line to find success, but often times guys just weren’t getting anywhere close to the push you would expect. With the offensive line, I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t expect much in the way of improvement this year, but maybe miracles can happen.

Overall: D

Even considering that the Bruins would ultimately put 487 yards of offense, the four turnovers and middling performance through a half were more than enough to make me give a low grade here. There was just no excuse for what the Bruins did in that first half, especially against a bad defense. This unit is going to need to figure some things out in a hurry if they’re going to get a win this coming week.

Defense

Overall: A

I’m not breaking this into run and pass defense because, for the most part, Colorado was unable and unwilling to run the ball. The Buffs had 78 sack-adjusted rushing yards, and Shadeur Sanders had the majority of those via scrambles (the fact that he still ended up with -7 rushing yards speaks to how many times he got sacked). I mean, just look at this sick filth:

Colorado was forced to try and make something happen in the air and, for the most part, was unable to do so. They found some success on the first drive by hitting a lot of quick passes to try and neutralize the Bruin pass rush but starting with the second drive, the Bruin defense adjusted and played more press coverage, and that was effectively all she wrote on that front.

The Bruins effectively lived in the Colorado backfield for most of the game. Officially, UCLA was credited with seven sacks, 10 TFLs, and six QB hurries, but it honestly felt like much more than that. If I had to guess, I’d say Sanders was touched on at least 80% of his dropbacks, which is an obscene number and honestly makes me respect him for getting up as often as he did. UCLA’s defensive front versus the Colorado offensive line was always going to be the biggest mismatch of the game, and it played out exactly as you would expect.

I’m willing to say this about the UCLA defense: it’s really, really good, and if your team is not well-rounded, then they can really make you one-dimensional and shut you down. Only one team this season has really been able to get something going against this defense, and that was an Oregon State team playing at home that was committed to both the run and pass. If the UCLA offense can start holding up its end of the bargain and allow the defense to be even more aggressive, that might be a huge boost for the final stretch of games.

Special Teams

Overall: C-

If Southern Cal’s defense did not exist, I would be more confident in saying that UCLA’s special teams unit is the most unserious unit in the entire conference. RJ Lopez has been a nightmare the last few games, yet Kelly seems unwilling to switch to the transfer kicker he brought in so that Lopez can go back to being the kickoff specialist he was the past few seasons. Will Powers has settled down and had some good punts in this game, and really deserved a pin inside the five-yard line on one of his kicks. Colson Yankoff had a decent return, but he’s not a threat to break one for a touchdown so we’re stuck looking at returns to the 30 as a momentous occasion.

Coaching

Offensive Gameplan: B-

It was a generally uninspired gameplan from Chip Kelly, but it honestly did not need to be much better considering the opponent. UCLA put up 222 yards and only seven points in the first half not because of the gameplan but because of simple mistakes, and the second half was more representative of how the game should have gone, with the Bruins asserting their will more often and getting rewarded with touchdowns. The opening two plays of the second half were a great case of using the previous half as setup for success, as those two long pass plays played off of the previous rollouts and run plays of the first half to open things up down the field. Still, there were too many instances of the offense getting cute or trying to be clever, with the big standout being the goal-to-go situation with the score 14-9, where the Bruins tried to pass multiple times and almost had an interception before finally just giving the ball to Harden for the score.

Defensive Gameplan: A

I think Colorado offensive coordinator Sean Lewis is really good at his job and probably will get another head coaching opportunity at a bigger school soon after languishing at Kent State for years, but he had no chance at creating an effective game plan against the Bruins in this one. Defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn realized he had the biggest advantage in the world with his defensive line against the Colorado offensive line and simply built the entire defensive strategy around that. The Buffs couldn’t run, and after the opening drive UCLA adjusted and they really could not pass either. This was simply as dominating a performance as you’re going to see all season.

Overall: B+

Over on Twitter, I made a note of the pregame interaction between Chip Kelly and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders. Sanders is a polarizing figure for plenty of reasons, but I personally think he’s probably a net good for the sport simply because he’s honest about things publicly rather than two-faced in his response. It’s that honesty that made me curious about how the two head coaches would interact prior to the game, but the respect and love between the two was readily apparent: Chip Kelly sprinted over to the Colorado half of the field where Sanders was, and Sanders in return got down on his knees and started bowing to Kelly when he saw him. That love carried over into the postgame as well where you could see the smiles on the face of both coaches as they embraced multiple times.

I bring all this up to state that I believe UCLA set out to not embarrass Colorado in this game, which is fine and maybe even admirable. Kelly and his staff clearly believed they had the superior team and that bore out for the entirety of the game, but there was never a point where UCLA really wanted to show off that killer instinct and put away an opponent early. That’s all well and good (and I’m sure the bigwigs at ESPN loved that this game was close for so long) but it does create for a frustrating viewing experience as a fan, especially if said fan happened to be in a sold-out Rose Bowl. There are times when you really want to send a message to the fanbase that you are a good team, and this was not one of those times for UCLA. Again, they never looked in real danger of losing, but they should have won by much more, and that falls on coaching as much as anything else.

Vibes

Vibe check: Prime Time at the Rose Bowl

It’s been a while since the Rose Bowl felt like that for a non-Southern Cal game. We had the matchup with LSU a few years ago, but that game was a 50-50 (maybe 60-40) split of LSU fans to UCLA fans. As expected, Coach Prime helped sell out the Rose Bowl, but the surprising part was just how many UCLA fans showed up. Yes there were Colorado fans with their Sanders and Hunter jerseys or people wearing various jerseys or clothes with the Coach Prime branding, but way more people came to the game wearing the Blue and Gold, and this was generally a great showcase for everything around the program:

As Joe mentioned on the Sunday Morning Quarterback, UCLA and Jordan hit it out of the park with the throwback uniforms. I’m in agreement that I’d love to see those things against Southern Cal, but they really should become part of the rotation going forward.
In another nod to the past, this weekend marked the dedication of the new Terry Donahue statue outside the UCLA locker room tunnel, which is a great touch and something UCLA should do more of to showcase their history and legacy in the sport.
The Solid Gold Sound, in what feels like their first real game of the year since school started, brought back the Fall of Troy for Homecoming, which is always a crowd-pleaser.
With it being Homecoming and a huge crowd, a lot of the various athletics teams got recognized, including the women’s soccer and men’s volleyball teams that won national championships last year (women’s soccer just won the Pac-12 again, btw). The men’s basketball team was also in attendance, while weirdly enough the top 5 women’s basketball team was not, I’m assuming due to a scheduling conflict.
Finally, I loved taking the time to honor the late Chris Roberts, who passed away this past year. Roberts was the voice of UCLA for so many of us, and while Josh Lewin has stepped in and done a tremendous job, it’s still going to be some time before he can supplant Roberts in the minds of many Bruins. Maybe if he gets to call a UCLA Rose Bowl at some point…

Doing all of this in front of a packed house on national television is important to build brand loyalty and get fans engaged with the program. Kudos should go to the athletic department and AD Martin Jarmond for recognizing the moment and rising to meet it. Now we see if the football team can take advantage of it.

Final Composite

Offense grade: D

Defense grade: A

Special Teams grade: C-

Coaching grade: B+

Vibe check: Prime Time at the Rose Bowl

Final grade for Colorado Buffaloes: B- (2.61)

For reference, here are the past grades from the season:

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers: B- (2.66)

San Diego State Aztecs: A- (3.6)

North Carolina Central Eagles: Pass

Utah Utes: C+ (2.3)

Washington State Cougars: B (2.97)

Oregon State Beavers: C- (1.74)

Stanford Cardinal: B- (2.79)

The Bruins were ranked #19 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings. That’s good! Unfortunately, that means a ranked UCLA is now playing a night game in Arizona this week, and as I pointed out in the game preview I did with our friends at AZDesertSwarm, “a late-night game against Arizona, especially on the road, is where ranked UCLA teams go to die”.

This is the exact kind of game where UCLA has failed to meet the moment under Chip Kelly. A win here could set them up for the rest of the season where they get to face Arizona State, a reeling Southern Cal, and Cal Berkeley all without leaving the city to end the year. 10 wins is still on the table, but the Bruins are going to have to prove that this team is different and can rise to the occasion.

Go Bruins!

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