UCLA Football Preview: DJ Uiagalelei Leads High-Powered Oregon State Offense
Just don't assume that the Beavers will be pass-happy.
Oregon State’s big splash during the offseason was the addition of former Clemson quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. So, it would be natural to assume that the Beavers are running a pass-heavy offense like the Air Raid or something like it.
You would be wrong.
Believe it or not, the Beavers are running the ball 56.3% of the time. By comparison, UCLA has run the ball 55.7% of the time. This adds yet another point of comparison between UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and OSU’s Jonathan Smith.
While Oregon State has gotten the ball into the end zone 30 times offensively this season to the Bruins’ 20 offensive touchdowns, they haven’t score 50% more touchdowns per game than UCLA this season. That’s because the Beavers haven’t had their bye week yet and they’ve played six games to UCLA’s five.
Comparing each team’s offensive touchdowns per game is a better way to measure. Using that, OSU is averaging 5 offensive TDs per game to UCLA’s 4 offensive TDs per game. But, even there, it needs to be looked at with a grain of salt.
Oregon State has played San Jose State, UC Davis, SDSU, Washington, Utah and UC Berkeley. The Beavers put up 42 against SJSU, 55 against UC Davis and 52 against UC Berkeley, which are all video game numbers. UCLA only had one game with video game numbers and that was against FCS opponent NCCU.
Against common opponents, they managed just 26 at home against SDSU, 35 on the road in a losing effort against Washington State, and 21 in a home win over the Utes. The Bruins scored 35 on the road against the Aztecs, 7 on the road against Utah, and 25 at home against Washington State. So, the Beavers have outscored UCLA 82-67 against common opponents.
I’ll discuss this some more after we look at the Beavers’ offensive personnel.
Quarterback
Uiagalelei certainly gives Oregon State a bit of an edge. After all, the junior transfer came from Clemson where, as a freshman, he led the Tigers to a win over Boston College and a double overtime regular season loss to Notre Dame in South Bend. That year, the Tigers made the College Football Playoff. He also started a total of 28 games for Clemson over three seasons and played in 36 games. So, he enters this weekend’s game with a ton more experience than UCLA’s Dante Moore has.
He is also mobile. He is the third-best rusher on the Beavers this season with 131 net yards including five rushing touchdowns.
Running Backs
Sophomore Damien Martinez’s 586 net rushing yards makes him the team’s leading rusher, but 351 of his yards came in the first three games of the season against SJSU, UC Davis, and SDSU. Two weeks ago, Utah held him to 65 yards on 16 carries.
Deshaun Fenwick has carried 58 times for 330 yards. His best game this year came three weeks ago against Washington State when he ran for 101 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries, but his worst game came a week later against Utah when he only gained one yard on six carries.
Receivers & Tight Ends
Without a doubt, Silas Bolden is Uiagalelei’s favorite target. The junior from Rancho Cucamonga has made 27 receptions for 369 yards and three touchdowns. It’s worth noting that his best game of the season came against Utah when he had six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown.
Right behind Bolden is redshirt junior Anthony Gould. Gould has 20 receptions this season for 356 yards and two touchdowns. To a degree, that makes him a bigger threat to make the big play. He’s averaging 17.8 ypc to Bolden’s 13.67 ypc, but that is skewed a little by his 75-yard catch against the Aztecs while Bolden’s longest was a 50-yard reception against the Cougars.
Redshirt senior Jesiah Irish has the team’s third-most receiving yards with 154.
Last week, Uiagalelei found sophomore tight end Jack Velling four times for 38 yards. Normally, that might not seem too relevant, but three of those four receptions were touchdowns. That gave him a total of five on the season, which leads the Beavers. So, the Bruin defense will need to keep an eye on this new target.
Analysis
Without a doubt, the Beavers have plenty of offensive weapons. Despite that, I like the Bruins’ chances in this game.
Oregon State likes to run the ball. UCLA now has the second-best rush defense in the nation. In that battle, I feel really good about how the Bruins should fare. To be sure, UCLA may very well give up more rushing yards than any other game this year, but that’s because no team has gained more than 102 rushing yards against them this season. Oregon State is averaging more than 205 rushing yards per game and their fewest rushing yards in a game was 131 against Utah. If the Bruins can hold them close to that, I’d consider that a win.
The Bruin pass defense has held four of their five opponents to less than 205 yards passing. So, even though the UCLA pass defense has been solid to this point, this will be another important test for the Bruins. After last week’s containment of Cameron Ward and the Cougars, I expect UCLA to pass this test as well.
Earlier, I mentioned how OSU outscored the Bruins against their three common opponents. I don’t really see this being much of a factor on Saturday, simply because UCLA’s defense is one of the best in the country. As long as the defense comes to play, it shouldn’t matter.
Go Bruins!!!
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Ucla has to be successful on 1st downs to not end up in 3rd and longs that allow the OSU defense to pressure Dante Moore into huge mistakes. I'm hoping Chip moves the pocket and the receivers show awareness in obvious blitz situations