Great write up Dimitri and the little nuances of where pressure is coming from on defense are akin to formation shifts and motions on offense -- relatively inexpensive adds to make things harder on the opponent. That said hats off to Malloe and Lynn for maximizing our strengths (DL and Edge) to shore up our weaknesses (secondary).
I’m surprised Wazzu had such a hard time blocking Jones’ touchdowns -- that was essentially Wing-T 30 series Power out of the gun with Yankoff or Steele as the kick out blocker to complement the pulling guard.
Still effective though, just like running Steele out of the Pistol more was great. I’d like to see some more 2nd or 3rd level RPOs off that action to put a defender in conflict and take advantage of Loya in the slot or Sturdivant/Ford/Brown on the outside. But that will come with time as Moore’s able to handle...more.
Agreed that special teams continues to be abysmal...goes to show the disadvantage of not having a ST Coordinator, especially when some of the most volatile, game breaking plays can happen in the kicking game. One only needs to across town at Zachariah Branch as an example of what a game breaker can do in that phase of the game.
All in all there’s a great case to be made that UCLA should have won this game 42-10 if they played their best...wonder where that would have put us in the polls?
Thank you for the detailed write up. Hoping I am not jinxing the team, but I have not noticed as many of the dumb penalties so far this season that has plagued UCLA historically under Chip. Also, our defense is honestly tackling. Real live rugby like two arm wrap tackling. Awesome.
Great write up as always Dimitri. Just my 2c on a few specifics;
While the special teams were atrocious, there was one play I thought they handled well. In the first half there was a WSU 4th and short where they lined up in punt formation, changed to a run look, and then had a hard count. While I think in previous years the Bruins might have been caught by surprise, or panicked and jump the snap, this team looked ready and disciplined. Not sure if the wassu player had the freedom to snap the ball if they saw the D not ready, but in the end WSU had to use a timeout.
Totally agree that the 2 pt play call was terrible. I think that would have been the perfect time to use Schlee. It would put doubt into the minds of the opponent as there’s a real chance of the QB running, and if you’re passing, it’s only a short throw. I think it also doesn’t disrupt the offensive flow successful or not. Would be a totally different look to defend, which is great for an all or nothing play.
I missed watching the 4th and 1 live as my stream cut out with impeccable timing. I saw a piece on a WSU site arguing it was the right play call, just bad execution. I’m not enough of an X’s and O’s guy to really judge that, but watching it on replay, the Bruins physically dominated to blow it up. Medrano blew up the player to the outside and forced Ward to stay inside. Musau made a great read and met the QB before the pulling O-lineman could block him. There’s a great moment where the lineman (having whiffed on the block) is across the line to get thinking Ward was behind him. I do think some credit is due to the strength and conditioning coach as the Bruins look to be in good shape.
Lastly, I guess we won’t see many noon games in the BIG. With 4 west coast teams there would usually be 2 west coast games in a week, and I think the league will want 1 to be evening Pacific to extend the day of football coverage.
One more comment on the 2 pt play - watching it live I thought Dante was hurt when he got hit - certainly don’t need our QB taking hits like that if it can be avoided.
Great write up Dimitri and the little nuances of where pressure is coming from on defense are akin to formation shifts and motions on offense -- relatively inexpensive adds to make things harder on the opponent. That said hats off to Malloe and Lynn for maximizing our strengths (DL and Edge) to shore up our weaknesses (secondary).
I’m surprised Wazzu had such a hard time blocking Jones’ touchdowns -- that was essentially Wing-T 30 series Power out of the gun with Yankoff or Steele as the kick out blocker to complement the pulling guard.
Still effective though, just like running Steele out of the Pistol more was great. I’d like to see some more 2nd or 3rd level RPOs off that action to put a defender in conflict and take advantage of Loya in the slot or Sturdivant/Ford/Brown on the outside. But that will come with time as Moore’s able to handle...more.
Agreed that special teams continues to be abysmal...goes to show the disadvantage of not having a ST Coordinator, especially when some of the most volatile, game breaking plays can happen in the kicking game. One only needs to across town at Zachariah Branch as an example of what a game breaker can do in that phase of the game.
All in all there’s a great case to be made that UCLA should have won this game 42-10 if they played their best...wonder where that would have put us in the polls?
Thank you for the detailed write up. Hoping I am not jinxing the team, but I have not noticed as many of the dumb penalties so far this season that has plagued UCLA historically under Chip. Also, our defense is honestly tackling. Real live rugby like two arm wrap tackling. Awesome.
Great write up as always Dimitri. Just my 2c on a few specifics;
While the special teams were atrocious, there was one play I thought they handled well. In the first half there was a WSU 4th and short where they lined up in punt formation, changed to a run look, and then had a hard count. While I think in previous years the Bruins might have been caught by surprise, or panicked and jump the snap, this team looked ready and disciplined. Not sure if the wassu player had the freedom to snap the ball if they saw the D not ready, but in the end WSU had to use a timeout.
Totally agree that the 2 pt play call was terrible. I think that would have been the perfect time to use Schlee. It would put doubt into the minds of the opponent as there’s a real chance of the QB running, and if you’re passing, it’s only a short throw. I think it also doesn’t disrupt the offensive flow successful or not. Would be a totally different look to defend, which is great for an all or nothing play.
I missed watching the 4th and 1 live as my stream cut out with impeccable timing. I saw a piece on a WSU site arguing it was the right play call, just bad execution. I’m not enough of an X’s and O’s guy to really judge that, but watching it on replay, the Bruins physically dominated to blow it up. Medrano blew up the player to the outside and forced Ward to stay inside. Musau made a great read and met the QB before the pulling O-lineman could block him. There’s a great moment where the lineman (having whiffed on the block) is across the line to get thinking Ward was behind him. I do think some credit is due to the strength and conditioning coach as the Bruins look to be in good shape.
Lastly, I guess we won’t see many noon games in the BIG. With 4 west coast teams there would usually be 2 west coast games in a week, and I think the league will want 1 to be evening Pacific to extend the day of football coverage.
One more comment on the 2 pt play - watching it live I thought Dante was hurt when he got hit - certainly don’t need our QB taking hits like that if it can be avoided.