UCLA Football Preview: Bruins Face a Big Challenge Against Nebraska's Stingy Pass Defense
How will the Bruins fare against one of the toughest pass defenses in the country?
Looking at the stats for the Nebraska defense, the thing which really sticks out is the fact that the Cornhuskers have been very stingy when it comes to the passing game. In fact, Nebraska is ranked second in the nation in passing yards allowed and they are tied for the best in the nation in passing touchdowns allows with just three—in nine games. That’s one passing touchdown allowed every third game.
That’s just an unbelievable statistic.
It isn’t to say that the Bruins can’t come out and double that number Saturday. That’s certainly possible, but to hold nine teams, including six Big Ten teams, to just three passing touchdowns is unheard of in college football in this day and age. Oh, and for what it’s worth, the other team which has only allowed three passing touchdowns so far is Ohio State, the #1 team in the land. Even then, that’s only through eight games for the Buckeyes.
The three teams which did manage to score a passing touchdown against the Nebraska defense were Michigan State, Maryland, and Minnesota. Interestingly, those teams are three of the four teams which have scored the most points against Nebraska. The only team which scored at least 24 points against the Huskers which didn’t score a passing touchdown was Michigan.
If there’s some good news for UCLA about the Nebraska defense, it’s the fact that they are ranked 93rd in the country in rushing defense. By comparison, the Bruins are ranked 125th in rushing defense. Despite that, the Huskers have allowed two more rushing touchdowns that the Bruins have.
Let’s look at Nebraska’s defensive personnel.
Defensive Line
Redshirt senior Elijah Jeudy will anchor the defensive line as the nose tackle. Jeudy has made 16 tackles including a TFL and a sack. He has also forced a fumble.
Through the first six games, Cameron Lenhardt was the starting defensive end, but since Nebraska played Minnesota, redshirt freshman Williams Nwaneri has been the starter. On the depth chart, these guys are both listed as starting options. So, either one could start tomorrow, though Nwaneri certainly has the most impressive stats. He has made 24 tackles including four TFLs and one and a half sacks. He’s also broken up one pass, recovered two fumbles and has five quarterback hurries. Meanwhile, Lenhardt has made 14 tackles including 1.5 TFLs and a sack and he has broken up one pass and has a QB hurry.
On the other side, sophomore Kiona Davis will be the starter at “defensive tackle.” That’s the spot which has been labeled as a second defensive end last season but has been renamed this year under new defensive coordinator John Butler. Davis has made 21 tackles including 2.5 TFLs and half a sack.
Linebackers
Super senior linebacker Javin Wright is in his seventh season with the Nebraska program. Wright redshirted in 2019 during his first season with the program. He didn’t play the following year because of an injury, but that was the COVID season. In 2021, he endured a medical hardship. So, 2022 was his redshirt freshman year. Since he’s been with the team that long, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Wright leads the team in tackles with 63 including 7.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks. Wright also has an interception, three pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.
Sophomore middle linebacker Vincent Shavers, Jr. has made 38 tackles including six TFLs and a sack. He has also broken up one pass, forced a fumble and had a QB hurry.
Senior transfer Dasan McCullough joined the Huskers this year after starting his college career at Indiana and spending the past two seasons at Oklahoma. McCullough will be the starting Jack linebacker, which is a linebacker/defensive end hybrid position. He’s started six of the team’s nine games this season. In three games, Nebraska opted to start with a more traditional 4-3 defense with four linemen and three linebackers. McCullough has made 19 tackles this year with five TFLs and two sacks. He has also broken up one pass and had three QB hurries.
As an aside, it’s worth noting that in those games where they started the traditional 4-3 defense, the Huskers started Lenhardt and Nwaneri as two traditional defensive ends. And, rather than starting McCullough as a Jack linebacker, they started a third traditional linebacker by using one of the guys listed as reserve LBs on the depth chart.
Secondary
Nebraska will start two corners, a safety, a nickel and a rover. They’ve been forced to make some changes here due to an injury to Malcolm Hartzog, Jr. Hartzog had been the starting nickel in the first two games before he got hurt.
That precipitated moving senior Ceyair Wright from one of the corners to the nickel and moving Donovan Jones into the starting lineup at Wright’s old CB spot. Ceyair Wright, who is the cousin of former Bruin Darnay Holmes, has made 16 tackles including half a TFL. He leads the team in pass breakups with five.
Meanwhile, Jones has made 34 tackles with half a TFL. He has also picked off a pass and broken up three more.
The other starting corner will be junior Andrew Marshall. Marshall has started all nine games this season and he’s made 30 tackles including three TFLs. Like Jones, he’s also picked off one pass and broken up three.
While senior Marcus Buford, Jr. started the first four games of the season, redshirt freshman Rex Guthrie seems to have earned the starting spot beginning with the Michigan State game. The depth chart lists these guys as “OR” options. So, technically, either could start. Guthrie has certainly tallied the better stats. He’s second on the team in tackles with 47 including 1.5 TFLs and he’s broken up a pass. Meanwhile, Buford has only made 16 tackles this season.
The starting Rover will be senior DeShon Singleton, who has started all nine games this year. Singleton has the third most tackles on the team with 45 including a TFL. He also leads the Huskers in interceptions with two and he’s broken up three passes. He has also recovered a fumble and has one QB hurry.
Analysis
The bottom line is simple: If UCLA wants to win this game, they need to get the ball into the end zone. Considering the fact that the Cornhuskers have only allowed three passing touchdowns, it would seem that the Bruins will need to run the ball really, really well if UCLA expects to score.
But it isn’t just the fact that no team has allowed fewer passing touchdowns. They just don’t give up many yards through the air either.
Since Jerry Neuheisel started calling the Bruin offense, there seems to be less of an emphasis of having Nico Iamaleava run the ball. Given the overall stinginess of the Husker pass defense, it should behoove UCLA to turn Iamaleava loose as much as possible tomorrow as a way to balance out the offense.
At the same time, Bruin running backs have shown more life under Jerry as well. They will need to play well and score in order for UCLA to win.
This game isn’t going to be easy. At the same time, the Bruins have had two weeks to prepare for this week’s game. Let’s hope that they look that well-prepared.
Go Bruins!!!
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