UCLA Football Preview: New Mexico Defense May Allow Bruin Offense to Click
The Lobo defense has not been as stingy as the other teams UCLA has played so far.
The base New Mexico defense appears to be slightly different from most of the defenses we’ve seen over the past few years. On one hand, the Lobos will run a 4-2-5 base defense, but it’s the makeup of the five defensive backs which appears to be different from the norm.
The defensive line will consist of four lineman — two defensive ends and two defensive tackles while the base 4-2-5 will add two linebackers. In the secondary, there will be three safeties and two corners.
That said, from the team’s starting lineups (because they haven’t published a depth chart), they ran the base 4-2-5 against Michigan while they tweaked it into what appears to be a dime package against Idaho State by swapping out one of the linebackers for a fourth safety.
The curious thing about the New Mexico dime defense is the fact that, while most dime defenses will utilize four corners and two safeties, the Lobos appear to use two corners and four safeties in their dime.
Let’s look at the personnel.
Defensive Line
Both defensive ends are senior transfers. Keyshawn James-Newby, who followed Jason Eck from Idaho, will be on one side while Brett Karhu, who played last season at Memphis and two seasons at Oklahoma Baptist, will be the opposite defensive end. James-Newby is tied for fifth on the team in tackles with nine including one TFL as well as a pass breakup, a QB hurry and a forced fumble. Meanwhile, Karhu is tied for seventh with seven tackles including two TFLs and a sack. He also has one QB hurry.
Redshirt senior Gabriel Lopez joined the Lobos in 2023 after transferring from Washington State. He will be one of the starting defensive tackles. The other will probably be Xavier Slayton. Slayton started last week against Idaho State, but not against Michigan. Slayton is fourth on the team in tackles with ten including a TFL and half a sack. Lopez has made two tackles including half a TFL and half a sack in addition to a QB hurry.
It’s worth noting that there is a Bruin connection on the defensive line. Reserve defensive tackle Okiki Olorunfunmi is the brother of former Bruin Bolu Olorunfunmi.
Linebackers
Of course, New Mexico’s starting middle linebacker is another Idaho transfer. In this case, this was the one player who was 100% certain to join head coach Jason Eck because it’s his son Jaxton Eck. In addition to being the coach’s son, the younger Eck leads the team in tackles with 23. He also has one QB hurry and a forced fumble.
When the Lobos do play a second linebacker with Eck, it’s likely to be Ky'won McCray. He’s tied with Karhu for seventh on the team in tackles with seven including a TFL along with a pass breakup. McCray will come out when New Mexico switches to their dime defense.
Secondary
Looking at the corners, one of the starters will be senior transfer Abraham Williams. Williams is another of the Idaho Lobos. He’s tied for second on the team in tackles with 11. The other starting corner will be super senior Jon Johnson. After graduating from St. John Bosco here in Southern California, he spent two seasons at El Camino College before spending the last two seasons at Montana State. Johnson has made five tackles this season.
In the Lobos’ base 4-2-5 defense, there will be three starting safeties. One of the starters will be senior Tavian Holmes. Holmes is tied with Williams for second on the team in tackles with 11. Another starting safety is super senior Caleb Coleman. Coleman began his collegiate career with a year at Hutchinson Community College. He then spent two years at West Virginia and two more at Texas State before joining New Mexico this year. He’s tied for fifth on the team with nine tackles so far.
The third starting safety will be Drew Speech. While Ohio transfer Austin Brawley started the Michigan game, a foot injury kept him out of the Idaho State game. Instead, Speech started against the Bengals. There could be a dropoff in talent there as Brawley made four tackles against the Wolverines, but Speech only has two tackles in two games.
When the Lobos switch to their dime defense, expect to see junior David Murphy. Murphy has made four tackles including half a TFL and he is the only Lobo with an interception this season.
Analysis
The good news is that New Mexico has only intercepted one pass through two games. Of course, the bad news is that they haven’t faced Nico Iamaleava yet. I say that because Iamaleava seemed to float his passes over the heads of his receivers when the Bruins opened the season against Utah. Through two games, Iamaleava has thrown two picks. Hopefully, this means that he won’t throw any tonight, but it doesn’t change the fact that to avoid throwing picks, he needs to throw more accurate balls.
The thing about the dime defense is that it makes it harder to defend against the run with six players downfield covering receivers. UCLA needs to try to take advantage of this.
Much in the same way that the New Mexico offense is not as high-powered as the Bruins’ first two opponents, the Lobo defense is not as stingy either. They have allowed about 200 more yards than their offense has gained.
So, tonight could be the shot in the arm that the UCLA offense needs. Of course, that assumes that the Bruins can actually execute on the offensive side of the ball.
Go Bruins!
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Sad state of affairs when we need a second rate team to perhaps pull out a win. It is probably our last chance for a win this season. SB Nation, among others, have us rated at the bottom of the Big Ten in power ranking. If we lose to the likes of New Mexico, should be immediate change in coaching.
On paper the Bruins should win this one going away. I said that last week too though…