SMQB: The Fate of the Bruins' Season Lies with the Defense

The defense has been critically important while the offense experiences some growing pains.

The Bruin defense has been the key to UCLA’s success so far this season. (Photo Credit: Greg Turk/uclabruins.com)

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Let’s talk about the UCLA defense.

Going in to yesterday’s game against the Washington State Cougars, I remained skeptical as to whether the Bruins could stop Cameron Ward, who, after four games, was the third-ranked passer in the country.

Ward had been averaging nearly 350 passing yards per game coming in to the game yesterday.

In the Chip Kelly era, the Bruin pass defense has a history of getting badly torched and, until yesterday, this year’s team hadn’t faced a team which featured a strong passing game.

Make no mistake, that isn’t to say that there haven’t been flashes of brilliance.

Last season, the defense managed to shut down Washington’s Michael Pennix at the Rose Bowl. But that game was before defensive coordinator Bill McGovern got sick and Clancy Pendergast was asked to fill in. Once that happened, the Bruin defense reverted back to their old ways and, once again, started getting beat badly.

After yesterday’s game, this much is clear: the fate of UCLA’s season lies with the defense.

Why?

Because for the second game in a row, freshman quarterback Dante Moore struggled for much of the game. It really wasn’t until the drive which culminated in the 13-yard touchdown run by Keegan Jones that the offense finally seemed to be clicking.

Now, I’m not down on Moore. So, don’t take it that way.

But Moore is a true freshman and, while he has shown definite signs of brilliance, he is also making some freshman mistakes. For instance, Moore is having a tough time when opposing defenses put him under pressure. Specifically, when under pressure, Moore seems to like to try to escape from that pressure by going backwards instead of throwing the ball away.

It’s likely a habit he developed in high school where he was the best athlete on the field, but FCS college football is a higher level of play and he keeps getting sacked for a bigger loss by dropping backwards further as the pocket completely collapses.

To be sure, the offensive line needs to do a better job of giving Moore enough time to throw the ball. Moore also needs to re-set his internal clock to find open targets downfield to adjust for pressure.

Moore also has to develop better timing with his receivers. On several occasions yesterday, he really overthrew his receivers, and he needs to fix that.

At the same time, the receivers need to make sure they are on the same page as Moore. At least twice yesterday, Moore threw balls to receivers who clearly weren’t expecting it because they never turned around to try to catch it.

Moore also needs to do a better job of moving through his progressions. Several times yesterday, he had a receiver wide open and hitting that receiver would likely have led to six points, but he completely missed the fact the open receiver was the better target on the play.

Finally, Moore needs to become a bigger rushing threat. Frequently yesterday, Chip Kelly had called an option play where Moore could have pulled the ball and taken off around the outside. Every single time, he handed the ball off.

To be sure, Carson Steele is an absolute beast. His hairstyle might make him resemble Thor, but, in fact, I think that, after just five games, Steele has certainly earned himself a nickname — “Man of” as in “Man of” Steele. That’s a direct result of the second, third and fourth effort he puts in when he has the ball.

Rather than just relying on the Man of Steele to break 17 tackles on a run, Moore needs to do a better job of reading the opportunity and taking off himself. In fact, it is the threat of Steele carrying the ball which opens up that opportunity for Moore to pull the ball and take off around the outside. It’s a dimension of the offense that we haven’t seen yet from Moore.

More reps and more film will eventually make Moore, well, more comfortable doing these things. He will get there, but it’s going to take some time for him to develop these. It’s probably why Kelly has resisted pulling Moore for even a series these past two games, even though he has struggled at times the past two games.

The long-term payoff will be big, but it’s going to take time to get there.

And, that’s why the play of the defense matters as much as it does. With the true freshman experiencing some growing pains, having a defense which has been allowing no more than one touchdown per game is absolutely vital to the team’s continued success.

In the meantime, all we can hope for is the quick development of Moore so that those flashes of brilliance all of us saw during the non-conference schedule start happening more and more against conference foes as the season progresses and culminates with the absolutely destruction of an undefeated Southern California squad at the Coliseum at the end of November.

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We’ll wrap up today with yesterday’s post-game press conference. This one was a lengthy one. First up is Chip Kelly, who wasclearly in a good mood, cracking jokes about being able to keep talking because the media wasn’t under a tight deadline. Kelly was followed by defenders Carl Jones Jr. and Alex Johnson along with the Man of Steele. Then, Dante Moore also met with the media.

UCLA completes the Pac-2 portion of their schedule when the Bruins visit the Oregon State Beavers next Saturday with a primetime game on Fox. Kickoff is slated for 5 pm PT.


Go Bruins!!!

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