UCLA Football Preview: Bruin Offense Should Have Its Way with ASU Defense

Look for a big game from T.J. Harden and/or Carson Steele.

Expect another big night from the tandem of T.J. Harden and Carson Steele. (Photo Credit: Don Liebig/uclabruins.com)

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While the Sun Devil defense is certainly better than their offense, the Bruin offense shouldn’t struggle the way they did last week against the Arizona Wildcats.

ASU is averaging 228.1 passing yards allowed per game while the Bruins are averaging 240 passing yards on offense. So, the UCLA passing game should be on par with most games the Bruins have played this season.

Of course, UCLA’s offense strength has been the running game where the Bruins are ranked 11th in the nation with an average of just under 205 rushing yards per game. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils have a better rushing defense than passing defense. They’ve been allowing an average of just 131.9 yards per game on the ground, which ranks them as the 45th best in the country.

Interestingly, if you look at the ASU defensive scheme, you’d expect them to be built more to stop the pass than the run. That’s because they play a 4-2-5 nickel as their base defense.

The best news of all for the Bruins, though, has to be the fact that ASU’s average turnover margin is -1.11 which means that opponents have an average of at least one more takeaway on defense than the Sun Devils do. UCLA’s turnover margin is zero because the Bruins have given the ball away as much as they’ve taken it away.

In terms of raw numbers, ASU has thrown ten interceptions and lost five fumbles while the ASU defense has only picked off two passes and recovered three fumbles. Overall, it’s the lack of interceptions by ASU which should have Bruin fans happiest.

Let’s look at the Sun Devil defensive personnel.

Defensive Line

Dashaun Mallory joins the ASU defensive line from Michigan State as a grad transfer. He has started every game at defensive tackle this season for the Sun Devils. He’s tied for seventh in tackles with 32 including eight TFLs and 1.5 sacks. He will be joined by freshman C.J. Fite who should start at the other tackle. Compared to Mallory, Fite is the guy the Bruins should run towards as he’s only made nine tackles all seasons and has just one TFL.

The Sun Devils will start a pair of juniors at the ends and both of them can cause problems for an offense. Redshirt junior Prince Dorbah will be one of the starters while B.J. Green will be the other. Dorbah has made 30 tackles including 9.5 TFLs and six sacks. He also has seven QB hurries and a pass breakup. Green has 32 tackles and is tied with Mallory for seventh on the team. He is also the guy most likely to be making a tackle for loss. He leads the team with 11 and his six sacks ties him with Green for the most on the team.

Linebackers

Washington State grad transfer Tre Brown will start as one of the Sun Devil linebackers. He followed his defensive coordinator Brian Ward to the Tempe when Ward became the Sun Devils’ defensive coordinator. Brown is fifth on the team in tackles with 37 including 2 TFLs and half a sack. He also has one pass breakup.

The other starting linebacker is also a transfer. Tate Romney transferred to ASU after playing his freshman season at BYU following his LDS mission. Romney is a distant relative of Utah Senator and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, based on an article from the Monroe News-Star which answered the question about Tate’s brother Gunner. Romney is third on the Sun Devils in tackles with 43 including three TFLs. He also has four pass breakups, three QB hurries, and a fumble recovery. So, he’s a guy to keep an eye out for when the Bruins have the ball.

Secondary

The Sun Devils will feature a pair of seniors at the two safeties. True senior Chris Edmonds is the team’s leading tackler with 56 tackles. He also has two breakups and a QB hurry. The other safety will be redshirt senior and Austin Peay transfer Shamari Simmons. Simmons has made 53 tackles including 1.5 TFLs and a sack. In addition to three QB hurries, two pass breakups, and a fumble recovery, he is one of just two Sun Devils who has picked off a pass this season.

Moving to the corners, redshirt junior Ro Torrance is the other Sun Devil with an interception this year. He has also made 28 tackles including two TFLs and he has broken up two passes.

The other corner features a platoon of Demetries Ford and Ed Woods. Ford has started seven games while Woods has started two including last week’s game against Utah. Interestingly, both guys have made 27 tackles, though Woods has three TFLs to Ford’s 1.5. Ford has four pass breakups and a forced fumble while Woods has three breakups and two forced fumbles.

Finally, look for Jordan Clark to get the start at the nickel. Clark is tied with Brown for fifth on the team in tackles with 37 including a TFL. He leads the team in pass breakups with seven.

Analysis

Overall, I don’t expect the Sun Devil defense to pose as much of a problem for the Bruins as the Arizona defense did last week.

Of course, a few turnovers could change that, but I expect the Bruin defense to keep the ASU offense out of the end zone for almost the entire game.

The biggest question is who UCLA will have at quarterback when the game starts and whether the offensive line can keep him upright. Assuming they are, look for the Bruins to win this one pretty easily.


Go Bruins!!!

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