What to Expect From UCLA’s Defense

The UCLA defense has been very similar to Arizona’s – it gives up a lot of yards.

After four games, the Bruins rank near the bottom for most every major national defensive category, including No. 122 in scoring and No. 125 in total defense. They are also tied for last (No. 128) for most plays of 10-plus yards allowed, and are No. 125 for most plays of 20-plus yards allowed.

At the same time, UCLA struggled to force turnovers until last week’s barrage in Pullman. Cincinnati turned it over twice in the opener, but the Bruins did not gain a turnover against either San Diego State or Oklahoma. They had six takeaways against Washington State.

Where the Bruins have been modestly successful is in red zone defense. Opponents have scored touchdowns on only 11 of 19 drives, and that 58 percent clip ranks No. 53 nationally.

Schematically, UCLA runs a base 3-4 defense. The outside linebackers are very experienced players led by seniors Josh Woods and Keisean Lucier-South. The latter made his season debut last week at Washington State after sitting out the first few games while settling academic issues. His impact was felt with several key plays.

The vulnerability for the Bruins has been in the secondary, especially at the safety sports. The middle of the field has been exploited this season, though UCLA made some sound adjustments in the second half last week. Cornerback Darnay Holmes is a good playmaker, but he hasn’t rounded into form yet after missing the first couple games with an injury.

Ultimately, UCLA is likely to put numbers in the box to try and take away – or scare off – Arizona’s rushing attack. This, too, can attempt to contain Khalil Tate’s ability to use his feet.

However, the Bruins struggled to contain Jalen Hurts two weeks ago (289 passing, 150 rushing). In terms of what Arizona wants to do with the football, there are many more similarities to the Oklahoma offensive system than Washington State’s. But for the Wildcats to have success like the Sooners did, the offensive line will have to play well to establish the ground game and give Tate time to find his opportunities passing.

Here are five things to look for against the UCLA defense based on my observations from the Oklahoma and Washington State games.

1. Zone Drops

While UCLA will play man-to-man coverage, it’s important to note that they frequently disguise underneath coverage with their linebackers. This is used to keep the offense guessing where the rush may come from, but more importantly they want to confuse the quarterback and take away short passes over the middle of the field.

Similar to looks from Texas Tech two weeks ago, the Bruins will occasionally use a bear front with five or six at the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they send five or six to get to the quarterback, but just as often, one or two of those players are dropping off into shallow coverage. The length of Woods, Lucier-South and the other linebackers/ends dropping into coverage is a strength.  

Tate will need to be sound with his decision-making on short throws.

2. Middle of the Field

The biggest weakness for the UCLA defense appears to be in the middle of the field. While the linebackers are good near the line of scrimmage, there are gaps in coverage between the linebackers and safeties.

Across the board, communication has not been strong in the secondary, and when plays break down, the defensive backs have lost track of receivers. Along with this, the safeties have taken poor angles and missed tackles, leading to big plays. This is surely a point of emphasis for the Bruins to shore up.

I look for Arizona to involve its slot players heavily in this game, especially Jamarye Joiner, Brian Casteel and Tayvian Cunningham. If they can run disciplined routes, they should have some openings. Same goes for the tight ends, especially if the Wildcats use motion or the running backs out of the backfield to stretch the defense horizontally.

Another area where the middle of the field can break down is when they sell out to stop the run. As alluded to, despite having three down linemen, they will put four, five or six up at the line of scrimmage many times, leaving just one safety deep. If a play gets blocked well up front, it takes just one missed tackle to break something big. Hurts did this for Oklahoma on a fourth-and-short conversion that broke for a touchdown.

3. Active, Physical Perimeter Play

We will discuss the trenches next, but one place I am looking for Arizona to set a tone is the physicality on the perimeter.

The Bruins are susceptible to the big play, and one of the best ways to break big plays is to have outstanding blocking on the perimeter. Arizona has shown some signs of being a good screen team early in the year, and I’d expect that to be a part of the game plan again this week. The receivers need to win their battles blocking on the edge to open creases for running backs and fellow receivers to make big plays. The same could be said if Tate is able to get loose and use his legs.

A second area I am interested to see the play of Arizona’s receivers is their willingness to stick to their routes and work to get open for Tate if plays break down. As mentioned earlier, the Bruins have lost track of receivers numerous times on extended plays. The Wildcats’ receivers can’t give up on plays; they must keep working to get open so Tate can find them down field.

4. Play Harder than the Guy in Front of You

This goes out to the Arizona offensive line, which is coming off a highlight performance in the second half against Texas Tech. The mantra here is similar, though: out-play the Bruins along the offensive line.

UCLA has some nice talent up front, but it has not executed consistently or played hard consistently throughout games. The Bruins will look good stopping the run two or three plays in a row, then get gashed the next drive. For Arizona, the key is to keep playing and blocking hard every single play.

The Wildcats may be able to use tempo at times to get the Bruins on their heels and tire out the defensive front. UCLA wants to keep fresh bodies up front, but if they cannot substitute they have to stay on the field and defend the next play. That’s where playing harder than the guy in front of you can take its toll.

If Arizona is unable to take care of things up front, it will put pressure on Tate to use his arm to beat the Bruins’ secondary. It will also limit the ability to hit big plays, and the Bruins have been very susceptible to big plays this season. It starts up front.

5. The X-Factor

Looking at the Oklahoma game, the Bruins did a pretty solid job defending the Sooners, all things considered. Their problem was they had no answer for Hurts.

Obviously Hurts is one of the nation’s most proven quarterbacks, but Tate has similar talents, especially with his legs. Tate was dealing with a slight injury following the Texas Tech game, but the bye week should have provided ample time to get back near 100 percent. If that’s the case, he can be a similar X-factor in this game as Hurts was a few weeks ago.

Perhaps the Bruins script a game plan specifically to take away Tate as a runner. Arizona should still have enough answers in its play book to run and pass around that scheme.

Or the Bruins try to stifle the ground attack and make Tate throw the ball downfield. He has that ability, and maybe his second-half completion to Cedric Peterson that set up the go-ahead score against Texas Tech is just what he needed to hit on some deep balls.

Either way, if UCLA sells out to stop the run, there are going to be one-on-one opportunities on the outside. And when that happens, there is a whole lot of daylight to run if Tate can avoid the pressure and pull the ball down and run.

Of course, Arizona would just as much like to line up and run the ball the way it did in the fourth quarter two weeks ago. If it can, great. If it can’t, Tate will have the opportunity to make the winning plays with his arm or his legs just as Hurts did.

ICYMI: What to Expect From UCLA’s Offense

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