UCLA Football Preview: UNLV Defense Has Given Up Lots of Yards to Opponents This Year

Of course, that means that the Bruins will need to be a lot more effective than last week when they have the ball.

Sep 05, 2025

UNLV safety Jake Pope fights off a block to try to make a tackle last week against Sam Houston. (Photo Credit: GoBearkats.com)

UNLV runs a 4-2-5 Nickel as their base defense. This isn’t anything new. It’s similar to defenses that UCLA has seen before.

Basically, the defense lines up four down linemen with two linebackers to stop the run while dropping five defensive backs into pass coverage.

If ever there was a week for the Rebels to be running that type of defense, this might be it. Heck, if I were UNLV’s defensive coordinator, I’d probably even mix in a few dime packages too, pulling one of the four lineman for another DB.

Why?

That’s simple: UCLA was completely and totally ineffective at running the ball last week against Utah. I’d look to force Tino Sunseri into proving to me that they can actually move the ball on the ground with their running backs before I would focus on the Bruin ground game.

That said, let’s look at UNLV’s defensive personnel.

Defensive Line

Three of the four starting defensive linemen for the Rebels will be seniors. The lone underclassman on the line will be sophomore Lucas Conti. After making just nine tackles last season, he already has six this year including half of a TFL.

Senior transfer Jalen Lee joined the Rebels this year after spending three seasons at Florida and two at LSU. Lee has made four tackles including a TFL and a sack already this year. He’s also forced a fumble.

Moving to the outside, senior transfer Chief Borders will be joined by redshirt senior Ose Egbase. Like Lee, Borders is another defensive lineman who started at Florida under Dan Mullen. He transferred to Nebraska for a year before playing at Pitt last season. This year, he’s made two tackles.

Egbase spent a year at Hawai’i but played in only one game. This is his fourth year in the Rebel program. This year, he has three tackles including half a TFL as a starter.

Linebackers

UNLV’s starting linebackers are two of the team’s leaders. Marsel McDuffie is tied for the team lead in tackles with 12 including a TFL and a sack. He has also intercepted a pass. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore Blesyng Alualu-Tuiolemotu is tied for fourth in tackles with nine including 1.5 TFLs.

Former Bruin Isaiah Patterson could see some time behind Alualu-Tuiolemotu tomorrow. Patterson redshirted in Westwood last season.

Secondary

Moving to the secondary, nickel back Aamaris Brown is tied with McDuffie for the team lead in tackles. His 12 tackles includes 3 TFLs and 2 sacks. He’s also picked off two passes and broken up two more.

Junior safety Jake Pope comes to the Rebels with an impressive history. He spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa for Alabama under Nick Saban before transferring to Georgia last year where he played in just four games. This year, he’s third on the team in tackles with 11, just one behind McDuffie and Brown. He has also broken up two passes.

The other starting safety will be senior transfer Jaheem Joseph. After spending four years at Northwestern, he transferred to West Virginia last year. This season, he has seven tackles including two TFLs to go with a pass breakup.

Junior transfer Andrew Powdrell joins the Rebels this year after two seasons at Montana State. So far, he has five tackles and a quarterback hurry. He will be joined at corner by senior transfer Laterrance Welch. After two seasons at LSU, Welch spent last season at Arizona State. Welch is tied with Brown for the team lead in interceptions with two. He has also broken up one pass.

Analysis

This could be a good game to measure what the Bruin offense can do. Last week, Sam Houston State, in a losing effort, managed to put up 187 yards passing and 145 yards on the ground. The week before, Idaho State ran for a buck sixty while throwing for 395 yards.

In order to win this game, UCLA’s stat lines will need to look more like Idaho State’s than Sam Houston State’s. Of course, the problem is that, last week, the Bruin offense was about as effective as the offense of Long Beach State, that is, nonexistent.

The Bruins will need to score often if they want to fly home with a win.

Go Bruins.

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