UCLA Football Preview: Bruin Defense Will Need to Stop Cameron Rising and Utah Rushing Game
UCLA will need to show a similar effort to the one they had in the first half last week against Washington if the Bruins hope to beat the Utes.
Utah’s offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig believes in a balanced attack. That may explain why Utah’s depth chart lists 13 players offensively, rather than the typical 11. It looks like the extra two players are a fullback and a second tight end.
The Utes look similar to the Bruins when it comes to running vs. passing. Utah tends to run a little bit more than they pass. Of their 340 offensive plays, Utah has run the ball 195 times and passed 145 times. By comparison, UCLA has run 193 times and passed 169 times.
Let’s take a look at Utah’s playmakers.
Quarterback
After dismantling Michael Penix, Jr. last Friday, the Bruins will face another excellent quarterback this week. Cameron Rising burst onto the scene as the Utes’ starting quarterback last season after suffering a season-ending injury against Southern Cal in 2020. As a result of his performance last season, the junior from Newbury Park was selected to the All-Pac-12 first team. This season, he’s ranked fourth in the Pac-12 with a 68.4% completion percentage and third with a 166.01 passing efficiency rating. He’s also ranked sixth nationally in ESPN’s QBR with an 87.5 rating.
While Rising has the potential to be deadly throwing the ball, he’s also a threat to run as well. He is the second best rusher on the Utes with 189 net rushing yards and 218 yards gained. Overall, he’s averaging 37.8 yards rushing per game this season. He actually led the team in rushing against Oregon State by running for 73 yards and a touchdown.
So, the Bruins will have to make sure they contain him in the pocket as much as possible.
Running Backs
While Rising may be the team’s second best runner, their featured back will be Tavion Thomas who rushed for more than 1,100 yards last season. This season, he has carried 67 times for 295 yards and four touchdowns.
Thomas has the potential to inflict a lot of damage against UCLA. Last season, he ran for 160 yards on 24 carries and scored four touchdowns against the Bruins. So, it will be an interesting to see how UCLA does stopping him this season under new defensive coordinator Bill McGovern.
Beyond Thomas, there are two tailbacks who, combined, have carried almost as many times as him for almost as many yards. Michael Glover has carried 37 times for 153 yards and two scores. The freshman from Lakeland, Florida looks to be Utah’s future starter at some point. Sophomore Micah Bernard, who hails from Long Beach, has also gotten plenty of touches this season. He has carried the ball 25 times for 138 yards and a touchdown. Interestingly, Bernard’s average is more than a yard per carry better than both Thomas and Glover.
There’s one more guy we should mention here. That’s fullback Logan Kendall. Kendall transferred to Utah this season from Idaho. While he’s listed on the depth chart as the team’s starting fullback, he has yet to carry the ball. However, he’s listed on the team roster as a TE/FB. So, it looks like the Utes may line him up as a fullback to block on short yardage or may shift him into the backfield to create another look.
Since he hasn’t carried so far this season, it’s reasonable to assume he won’t carry the ball on Saturday, but it’s always possible that the Utes could pull out a play that they’ve held off on using until now.
Receivers
Like most offenses these days, the Utes like to spread the ball around. Utah has six receivers who have racked up 100 yards or more this season. Devaughn Vele leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards with 21 catches for 269 yards. Three of those catches have gone for touchdowns. Interestingly, he is not the team’s biggest deep threat. His longest reception of the year has been just 25 yards, which ranks him fifth on the team in longest receptions.
Dalton Kincaid is the Utah receiver most likely to find the end zone. He has five touchdowns this season to lead the team and he has 19 catches for 257 yards, giving him an average of 13.53 yards per catch. His longest catch went for 37 yards and is tied for second on the team with injured tight end Brent Kuithe, who was tied with Kincaid with 19 receptions when he got hurt.
In addition to his contributions to the running game, Micah Bernard has also played an important role in the passing game. Bernard is the fourth Ute receiver with more than 10 catches.
Look for Thomas Yassmin to get more targets this week as he steps up for the injured Kuithe. So far, Yassmin has just three receptions, but one of them went for 72 yards and a touchdown.
The winner for one of the best names in the Pac-12 has got to be Money Parks. At the very least, it’s certainly one of the most fun names in the conference. The sophomore receiver from Aledo, Texas is sixth on the team in receiving yards with 101 on seven catches.
Interestingly, two of the Utes’ starting receivers aren’t in the top six in receiving yards and haven’t made at least 10 catches either. That’s Solomon Enis and Jaylen Dixon who have 62 and 61 receiving yards, respectively. Enis has made eight catches including one touchdown while Dixon has five with one TD. Neither of these guys figures to play a particularly big role in the Utah offensive gameplan.
Analysis
The Utah offense seems to be about as prolific as the Bruin offense. Last week, I wrote that UCLA’s best chance might be if the game turned into a shootout. Now, that didn’t happen last week and if UCLA’s first half offense plays like it did against the Huskies, I will expect a similar game to last week. But if the Bruin defense cannot control the line of scrimmage, this game could end up being a shootout.
So, hopefully, Bill McGovern has prepared the defense for Utah the way he prepared them for Washington. UCLA needs to put Cameron Rising under a lot of pressure while keeping him in the backfield. It does no good, after all, to put him under pressure and have him take off running the football.
The bottom line is simple: UCLA needs to stop the Utah offensive attack like they did against Washington. The failure to do so will either result in a Utah win or a shootout where the last team to score wins.
Go Bruins!!!
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This is the key matchup and will be the rest of the year. I have confidence in our Offense to score, it’s really down to our ability to stop the other team. I’ve got a bad feeling about this game, but then again, I felt the same last week. So who shows up? The defender that got a safety and two picks in the first half last week, or the one that let in 22 points to allow Washington to come back in the second half? Can they stop the run. And contain the QB, or will they look like they did against South Bama? Is McGovern Azz 2.0 or an upgrade? So many questions. I’ll remain skeptical until proven otherwise. (I’m trying to ignore the growing hope to avoid the disappointment)
"..Bad Moon Rising.."