UCLA Football Preview: Bruin Bowl Game Reset
Let's take a look at how the Bruins have changed since the UC Berkeley loss.
It’s been three long weeks since UCLA last played a football game with a lot of changes for the Bruins. So, before we start to explore the Boise State Broncos, we should probably take a look at the changes which have occurred for UCLA.
Coaching Changes
The Bruin coaching staff has changed significantly since the last game of the regular season.
Obviously, most Bruin fans are aware that Southern Cal swiped Bruin defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn. While Chip Kelly has yet to fill the opening permanently, defensive line coach Ikaika Malloe will be the coach calling the defense for Saturday’s game, though he has not been named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.
The loss of Lynn has not been the only departure from the coaching staff.
Quarterbacks coach Ryan Gunderson has opted to leave Westwood to return to Oregon State, his alma mater. Tight Ends coach Jeff Faris is the final Bruin coach who has left before the end of the season. Faris has been hired as the new head coach at Austin Peay. He replaces Scotty Waldren, who led the Governors to a 9-3 record this season which earned the school a berth in the FCS Playoffs.
Player Departures
Since the Transfer Portal opened on December 4th, eight Bruins have announced that they will be leaving Westwood. Earlier this week, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly addressed whether any of the players who have entered the transfer portal would play in the LA Bowl on Saturday. Kelly indicated that the players were given the option of playing in the game, but each had opted not to.
The biggest name of the bunch is obviously quarterback Dante Moore. Moore saw significant playing time this season and even earned a role as the starting quarterback before losing it due to his penchant for throwing the football into the hands of opposing defenses. He took over for an injured Ethan Garbers against UC Berkeley and completed 23 of 38 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown. He also threw two interceptions in the game.
Keegan Jones is another offensive player who announced his departure. Originally a running back, Jones transitioned to wide receiver this year and was used in a similar way to how Demetric Felton was used when he was a Bruin. Jones carried 14 times this season for 152 yards and two touchdowns in addition to making eight receptions for 77 receiving yards.
Wide receiver Kam Brown enters the portal with a year of eligibility remaining due to COVID. Brown played in nine games this season and made nine receptions for 163 yards and a touchdown.
Tight end Carsen Ryan is a guy the coaching staff seemed to have high hopes for before the season began. Ryan was even named to the preseason watch list for the Mackey Award, which honors the nation’s top tight end. In the end, Ryan did finish the regular season with the most receptions of the three tight ends listed on the Bruin depth chart. He even scored three touchdowns. He just never emerged as the team’s top choice at tight end the way some recent Bruins had.
The final offensive player to announce a transfer was offensive lineman Jake Wiley. Wiley transferred from Colorado after the arrival of Deion Sanders, but Wiley was unable to earn a starting role on the Bruins and played in 12 games this season as a backup offensive lineman and special teams player.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Bruin secondary will be shorthanded. Two Bruin safeties and one cornerback have entered the transfer portal. The biggest loss is redshirt freshman Kamari Ramsey. He made 40 tackles this season including 2.5 TFLs. Ramsey also picked off one pass, broke up four more and had two quarterback hurries. Let’s just hope that Ramsey doesn’t follow D’Anton Lynn across town.
To add insult to injury, Ramsey’s backup William Nimmo, Jr. is also leaving. The senior from Corona will have a year of eligibility left due to COVID. This season, Nimmo appeared in all 12 games for the Bruins and he made 20 tackles including 2 TFLs.
The final defensive back who has announced his departure is starting cornerback John Humphrey. The senior from Pasadena made 31 tackles this season. He also forced two fumbles and had a fumble recovery in addition to intercepting two passes and breaking up three more.
Each of the transferring players have been removed from the team roster in the Game Notes and the depth chart for Saturday’s LA Bowl.
Opt Out
Having discussed the long list of guys who have entered the Transfer Portal, there is one more player who will not be suiting up on Saturday for the Bruins, and he is the guy UCLA can least afford to lose. Of course, that’s Lombardi Award and Ted Hendricks Award winner Laitu Latu. Latu has opted not to play in this weekend’s game, though, he is still considered a member of the team. He still shows up on the roster but he’s not listed in the depth chart.
Depth Chart Update
In wake of the changes, UCLA has officially updated the depth chart for the first time in about two months.
At quarterback, Dante Moore has just been removed. So, it now lists Ethan Garbers and Collin Schlee as the two options at starting quarterback. It would also imply that Chase Griffin will be the third option for UCLA should Garbers or Schlee become unavailable due to injury.
Siale Taupaki has replaced Wiley as the backup right guard. Interestingly, Taupaki has also replaced Benjamin Roy as the backup right guard on the depth chart, but Roy is still listed in the Game Notes as a member of the team.
Like quarterback, the starting tight end options are now reduced to just Hudson Habermehl and Moliki Matavao instead of three guys.
Ryan Cragun has been promoted to fill Kam Brown’s spot on the depth chart at receiver.
Defensively, Grayson Murphy will start at outside linebacker instead of Latu and he will be backed up by Choé Bryant-Strother.
The depth chart now reflects the actual starting defensive linemen. Jay Toia and Keanu Williams have been the starters whenever UCLA began the game with two defensive linemen and the depth chart now reflects that with Gary Smith III shifted to be Toia’s backup instead of being a starter.
In the secondary, Jaylin Davies should get the start in place of Humphrey with Kanye Clark backing up Devin Kirkwood at the other corner. At safety, look for either Alex Johnson or Jordan Anderson to start in place of Ramsey.
On special teams, Keegan Jones has been removed as a kickoff returner with no replacement. Colson Yankoff is now the only returner listed.
Analysis
Well, the best thing that can be said about this is: Next man, up.
But, the reality is that, after six years, this program is in terrible shape. I’m tempted to call it an absolute dumpster fire, but that would be an insult to dumpster fires everywhere. Assistant coaches and key players are departing Chip Kelly’s program like rats off a sinking ship. I expect that
The reality is that Chip Kelly should not be coaching this team after Saturday, but he will be at the helm when the Bruins enter the Big Ten Conference next season, barring a completely unforeseen change of heart by UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond after Saturday.
While it may seem hard to believe, but all of these departures leave the Bruins in much worse shape than they were in when November began. That alone should give every Bruin fan a reason to pause and it certainly won’t be a surprise if UCLA is unable to beat the Broncos on Saturday.
Go Bruins.
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First, a statement up front: I believe Chip Kelly did a poor coaching job this year, and could easily have been fired; had it not been for the victory over a clown-show SC team, they would have finished with four losses in which they appeared woefully unprepared and unmotivated.
But are the recent events in coaching changes and the portal symptoms of a total disaster ? Let’s look a little closer….
…Lynn was always moving on, and going to a school who could dramatically raise his salary plus buy better players was a no-brainer. Guarantee that the fact it was crosstown rival SC didn’t play into it at all; money and exposure are far more important to a young coach on the rise.
Gunderson was the QB coach, who has one job; and the Bruins highest-ranked recruit in years left the program whining that he needed someone to “develop me”….Chip gets some blame here as the de facto OC, but again….Gunderson had one job.
As far as Faris goes, it’s generally considered a good thing when someone (even a small school) recruits one of your assistants to be a head coach, especially a first time head coach.
Now, the portal entries:
Dante Moore - well, you could write all day about his saga, and I understand that he had some personal problems that may have affected him as well. But I’ll simply say this: DTR came to UCLA with one year of HS experience at QB, and it really showed at times with some absolute WTF moments, and he got beat up pretty good behind some spotty OL play….but at no point in his five seasons in Westwood did he ever look as overwhelmed and intimidated as Moore looked last season; in that final game against Cal, I was literally afraid for his safety as he froze in the pocket and got crushed. Best to move on, and hopefully he’ll find the right coach and program to develop him. Wonderful arm talent, but virtually everything else desperately needs that ‘ol development. Maybe he’ll look at Oregon State….
Keegan Jones - thought we’d see more of him this year; always held my breath when he ran into traffic, and he had some trouble holding on to the ball. Was definitely not the next Demetric Felton, but a useful player.
Kam Brown - like all Bruin WRs, hurt by the inability of the OL to pass block for longer patterns and Bruin QBs to hit them; was here several years but never carved out regular playing time.
Carson Ryan - good player but had to share time in a deep position group. Maybe he’ll find a team that will feature him more prominently…or not.
Jake Wiley - if you couldn’t secure a job with this group…..
Kamari Ramsey - the biggest loss from this group, the rare Bruin DB who could actually tackle. Makes sense that he’ll follow Lynn to SC.
Nimmo and Humphrey - both members in good standing in the UCLA DB Never Look For The Ball Club. Like many seniors, looking for greener pastures.
So, a few good players, some useful pieces, a few reserves, a failed big-time recruit (where have you gone, Soso Jamabo ?) a couple of coaches promoted to better jobs elsewhere….not ideal, and the mood around the program is a little grim, but…..the “rats off a sinking ship” thing sounds a little Fox News-ish. But yeah, Chip needs to step it up…having the team actually ready to play in the LA Bowl would be a good start, since West Coast teams have a tendency to mail it in when playing mid-level bowl games….
It's unfortunate that Jarmond has decided to waste another year hoping that Kelly is going to somehow have a marginally acceptable season. Our recruiting has gone from bad to worse and it's going to be a long season next year. Not sure what Jarmond was hired to do; so far he's done nothing.