UCLA Football Preview: Expect the Bruin Offense to Rebound Against a Weak Wazzu Defense

While the Cougars run a similar defense to Utah, Washington State has performed poorly in comparison.

After struggling against a tough Utah defense, look for Dante Moore and the Bruins to rebound against a much weaker Wazzu defense. (Photo Credit: Scott Chandler/uclabruins.com)

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While the Washington State offense is one of the best in the nation, the same cannot be said of the Cougar defense. Wazzu is ranked 78th in the nation in total defense, 100th in passing yards allowed, and 59th in rushing defense.

By way of comparison, Utah is ranked 15th in the country in total defense, 53rd in passing yards allowed, and 3rd in rush defense.

So, while the Cougars will line up like Utah did in a traditional 4-2-5 Nickel base defense, the similarities would appear to end there.

Let’s look at the Cougars’ defensive personnel.

Defensive Line

Washington State will start a pair of redshirt seniors on the outside of the defensive line. Ron Stone, Jr. will start at the Edge on one side while Brennan Jackson will start at the other. Both look to be capable of causing some havoc, though Stone leads the team in TFLs with four as well as sacks with three. Stone has made 16 tackles while Jackson has made 15. Each defensive end has four quarterback hurries.

Look for junior Nusi Malani and redshirt sophomore David Gusta to start as the defensive tackles. Malani has made 10 tackles while Gusta has made 11.

Linebackers

The team’s two linebackers have each made 25 tackles, tying them for second on the team. Redshirt senior Devin Richardson will start as the Mike linebacker while redshirt junior Kyle Thornton will be the starting Will linebacker. Thornton looks to be the more formidable member of the unit. He has three TFLs including one sack to go along with his four quarterback hurries.

Secondary

Moving to the secondary, free safety Sam Lockett is the team leader in tackles with 26. He is also one of the three Cougars to have an interception this season.

Despite that, redshirt sophomore Jaden Hicks seems to have had a bigger impact than Lockett. Hicks is fourth on the team in tackles with 24, but he also has 2.5 TFLs including 1.5 sacks as well as four pass breakups and an interception that he returned for a 37-yard pick six.

Junior Chau Smith-Wade will start at one of the corners. Smith-Wade is fifth on the team in tackles with 19 including two TFLs. He also has two pass breakups and a quarterback hurry.

Senior Sam Lampkin will be the other cornerback. His 12 tackles are the fewest in the secondary, but he compensates for that by leading the team with six pass breakups.

It looks like Jackson Lataimua will probably start as the nickel back. Despite being listed as the “or” starter, he’s started the last three game. So, it looks like Kapena Gushiken won’t start even though he is listed ahead of Lataimua on the depth chart.

That said, I’d probably start Gushiken if I were Jake Dickert because he has contributed more to the defense statistically. Gushiken has made 13 tackles and two pass breakups while Lataimua has made just eight tackles along with an interception, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.

Analysis

Two weeks ago, the Bruin offense struggled against a tough Utah defense. While the Cougars are now ranked higher than the Utes, the Wazzu defense will not be nearly as good as the Utah defense was.

I fully expect tomorrow’s game to be a shootout. If the Bruins can stop the Cougs’ passing attack, then UCLA will definitely come away with the upset because I don’t think the Washington State defense will be able to contain the Bruin offense the way the Utes did.

Is it possible that Jake Dickert could ask his 4-2-5 defense to use schemes similar to what the Utes used to stop the UCLA offense? Sure. But it doesn’t look like the Cougar defense has the same high quality personnel that Utah has. There is a reason that Utah is the two-time defending Pac-12 champs, after all.

So, look for this game to either be a shootout where the last team to drive down the field wins or look for it to be a big win for the Bruins because I don’t think Wazzu will be able to stymie Dante Moore and the offense like Utah did for four quarters.


Go Bruins!!!

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