Offense: The left side of their O Line starts two true freshman including a 5-star recruit at left tackle. They are turning into a strength and running left more frequently with nice push. The unit as a whole has given up a lot of sacks, so will be interesting to see how they fare against Anae and Penisini on that left side. QB pressures force early throws that could translate into INTs.
Joshua Kelley is the leading rusher in the Pac 12. Stopping him will be a key to the game. Get their offense in third and long situations and make it more difficult to sustain drives. Pressure QB on third and let him make mistakes.
Their offense is a lot of feast of famine. They score or turn the ball over. Last three games they’ve averaged about three punts per game. Utah has to get takeaways and a defensive TD would be nice.
Defense: Like their offense, their run portion of the scheme is better. They have a solid group of linebackers including three potential NFL guys. Establishing the run will be a key to open passing lanes. If Moss gets going, they drop more guys into the box and the vertical game opens.
They’ve held two of their last three opponents under 300 total yards. Very respectable.
Their D line has replaced bigger bodies with lighter and quicker athletes, which has solved a lot of their problems. Now, they are getting a good pass rush. So the tackles will have their work cut out for them.
They have the worst passing efficiency defense of all P5 teams. Their secondary is young. Look for Thompsen and Dixon to stretch the field and keep drives alive. This is the area to exploit.
Overall, they have improved a lot since the early season. Their non conference they faced three top 25 teams and lost all. Now are rounding into form like last year. Utah needs to start fast at home. They control their own destiny within the division and will be hungry. Don’t allow them any hope coming out of the locker room after halftime. Establish the lines, run the ball to open vertical lanes, apply qb pressures, force them into TOs.
Two of their last three opponents were Colorado and Stanford. I wouldn’t exactly call those great offenses.
good insight
early line is Utah -21
-21??
Noob Noob!
Great post. UCLA is a team that made some mid-season changes and is an improving team. They have lost four games, three of those losses were to ranked opponents. The other loss was to a decent OSU team (a team we detroyed, but it was likely our best-played game of the season).
They are not to be taken lightly and I am sure we are not.
I agree that the best thing to do is beat them up early and make them lose their will. If they keep it close, they will pull out every trick to win, because they have virtually nothing to lose.
Go Utes!!!
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