UCLA Football Preview: Stanford Defense Should Let Bruins Get On Track Offensively
When the Cardinal defense gives up more than 150 yards rushing, Stanford loses.
Tonight’s game against Stanford may be an opportunity for Chip Kelly to get Dante Moore back to his early season form.
That’s because the Stanford pass defense has been allowing an average of more than 300 passing per game. They have also given up 17 passing touchdowns this season. Nine of those 17 passing touchdowns have come in the Cardinal’s last two games.
Best of all, they have only three interceptions. Two of those picks came against Sacramento State while the other one came last Friday against Colorado. So, it’s actually possible that Moore might be able to make it through tonight’s entire game tonight without throwing an interception.
At the same time, Stanford tends to lose when they give up more rushing yards. Against Southern Cal, Sacramento State and Oregon, the Cardinal defense allowed at least 169 yards rushing in each game. In their two wins, they held Hawai’i to negative-five yards rushing and they held Colorado to 132 yards rushing. They allowed 145 yards rushing to Arizona in that narrow loss.
The Cardinal will run a 4-2-5 nickel base defense. Let’s look at Stanford’s defensive personnel.
Defensive Line
Senior Tobin Phillips will anchor the defensive line as one of the starting tackles. Phillips has just six tackles this season including half a TFL. The other starting defensive tackle will be junior Anthony Franklin. Franklin has been the better half of the duo, making 15 tackles this season including two TFLs and 1.5 sacks. He also has two quarterback hurries.
Senior Lance Keneley and sophomore David Bailey will be the Cardinal edge rushers. Bailey is the better of the two with 21 tackles including five TFLs and four sacks. He also has two QB hurries. Keneley has made 17 tackles with two TFLs and a sack along with one QB hurry.
Linebackers
Redshirt senior Tristan Sinclair will start at one of the linebacker spots. He is third on the team in tackles with 33 including one TFL. Sinclair is one of just two redshirt seniors starting on either side of the ball for the Cardinal.
Junior transfer Gaethan Bernadel comes to Stanford after playing two seasons at Florida International and he’s made a big impact on the Cardinal defense. Bernadel is the team’s leading tackler with 38 tackles including two TFLs. He also has one QB hurry.
Secondary
Sophomore Collin Wright will start at cornerback. He’s made 33 tackles including 27 solo tackles. He’s also made three TFLs and gotten one sack. He’s also picked off one pass and broken up two passes. Zahran Manley will start at the other corner. Manley is the other redshirt senior starting for the Cardinal. He has made 14 tackles including two TFLs and he leads the team with three pass breakups.
Alaka’i Gilman will be one of the starters at safety. He’s second on the team in tackles with 34 and he has two breakups to go with an interception. While the Stanford depth chart listed junior Jimmy Wyrick as the other starting safety, sophomore Scotty Edwards has actually started all six games for the Cardinal. Wyrick hasn’t played since the Hawai’i game, but he may be back today. Edwards should still see lots of playing time today, given that he’s made 26 tackles including one sack. He also has an interception and a pass breakup.
The starting nickelback should be junior Jaden Slocum. Unlike other teams UCLA has played, Stanford’s nickel back hasn’t made as much of an impact on the defense. Slocum has just 13 tackles this season.
Analysis
The Cardinal defense is the weakest defense the Bruins have played since North Carolina Central. I expect Chip Kelly to use Carson Steele to pound the Stanford defense and open things up for Dante Moore who will likely have one of this best games of the season.
I’d be surprised if UCLA doesn’t win by at least three touchdowns tonight.
Go Bruins!!!
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That Colorado game was a once in a decade game. Divided by what? 130 teams times 12 games a year puts the odds at um, carry the 1, approximately 100,000-1.