UCLA Football Preview: Bruins Must Contain Aztecs' QB Mayden
The Aztecs will rely on the ground for more yards rather than going through the air.
After playing one game, it really is still too early in the season to start making generalizations about the UCLA defense because we don’t necessarily know if UCLA’s defensive performance last weekend is more indicative of the Bruins or more of a result of Coastal Carolina’s players, performance and scheme, but I’m going to do it anyway.
After last week’s game, the Bruins are tied for 21st in the nation in rushing yards per game, having given up just 56 yards on the ground. Even more impressive, UCLA allowed an average of just 1.56 yards per carry against the Chanticleers. That ties the Bruins with Air Force for 15th in the nation.
Enter the San Diego State Aztecs.
After two games, the Aztecs are ranked 25th in the nation in rushing yards per game with an average of 225. SDSU is also ranked 27th in the nation in yards per rush with an average of 5.77.
Now is the time where all of you South Campus majors remind the North Campus folks like me about how bodies in motion in stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force and more of that science stuff.
Of course, in this example, the Aztec rushing attack would be the body in motion and the outside force would potentially be the Bruin rushing defense.
Conversely, the same cannot be said of either the San Diego State passing game, nor the UCLA pass defense. The Aztecs are ranked 120th our of 132 FBS teams in passing offense and they are averaging 124.5 passing yards per game. Meanwhile, the Bruins are ranked 108th in the country in passing yards allowed.
So, if the stats are to be believed — and that’s a big if after just one game, UCLA’s defense matches up well against the Aztecs’ strength and the Bruins may not face that big of a threat from SDSU against their defensive weakness.
Let’s look at the Aztecs’ offensive personnel.
Quarterback
Senior quarterback Jalen Mayden is making his eleventh career start for the Aztecs this weekend. Last week against Idaho State, Mayden ran for a school-record 132 yards by a quarterback and two touchdowns on just eight attempts. That’s an average of 16.5 yards per attempt.
Mayden became SDSU’s starting quarterback last season when he switched positions from safety to quarterback mid-season. He’s just the fourth Aztec QB to run for more than 100 yards in a game and he is the first one to do it since current Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell did it against BYU on November 6, 2004.
Interestingly, he had almost as many tackles last season as he had touchdown passes, with 9 and 12, respectively.
While I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s a bigger rushing threat than a passing one, it does seem that the Aztecs will focus more on running the ball than passing it.
Running Backs
The Aztec depth chart lists three running back positions. The most obvious is the fullback. Here, redshirt freshman Nick Gardinera is listed as the starter, but he hasn’t played in either of the first two games and his official SDSU bio lists him as seventh on the depth chart for the “T” running back position. So, it will be interesting to see how much time he gets at fullback against the Bruins. If he doesn’t play much, look for true freshman Leo Kemp to be on the field when SDSU uses a fullback. So far, neither of these guys has run the ball this season. We’ll have to see if that changes on Saturday.
The depth chart lists “F” and “T” running backs. It’s not exactly clear how Brady Hoke plans to employ these backs, but what is clear is that the “F” running backs will get more work than the “T” backs.
The “F” running backs on the depth chart are senior Kenan Christon and Jaylon Armstead. These two guys have each carried the ball 18 times so far this season, but Armstead has been more effective, gaining 139 yards to Christon’s 88 yards. Armstead also has the only touchdown between them.
The “T” running backs are sophomores Cam Davis and Martin Blake. Blake has gotten the ball more frequently than Davis and he’s run for almost three times as many yards, 58 to 21.
Receivers and Tight Ends
Given the Aztecs’ tendency to run the ball, it’s not particularly surprising to see that the team’s top receiver so far is actually senior tight end Mark Redman. Redman leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards with 7 catches for 70 yards. He has two touchdown receptions and is the only Aztec to have a touchdown reception so far this year.
Junior receiver Mekhi Shaw is second on the team with 50 yards on just 4 catches. Baylin Brooks and Brionne Penny are the other two receivers with more than 10 receiving yards so far.
It’s also not a surprise to see that two running backs have factored into the passing game prominently as Blake, Christon and Davis are three of the top seven receivers for the Aztecs, and that’s indicative of SDSU favoring a short passing game to compliment their rushing attack.
Offensive Line
The bulk of the experience on the San Diego State offensive line comes from the guys who are playing inside. In fact, the center and guards have a total of 27 games started to just four for the tackles. Sophomore Ross Ulugalu-Maseuli has started eight games at center while juniors Dean Abdullah and Cade Bennett have started five and 14 games, respectively.
If the offensive line has any weak spots, it might be at the tackles, given that the two starters hadn’t started a game before this season. Sophomore Christian Jones will start on the left side while junior transfer Myles Murao will be on the right side.
Don’t be suprised if San Diego State utilizes a two-tight end set to get the tackles some help against the Bruins’ run defense. In that case, look for Jay Rudolph to join Redman in the lineup.
Analysis
San Diego State isn’t much of an offensive team. They will ground and pound the ball to try to force a team into submitting.
Look for the Bruins to stop the ground game to stymie the Aztec offensive and keep them out of the end zone.
Go Bruins!!!
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