Engaging the Enemy: UCLA
With this week being a short week, the Bears will face UCLA Friday, and to fill us in on what UCLA has done in the last year is Edward Lewis, the publisher of BruinSportsReport.com. Lewis answered a few questions for us before the Black Friday matchup between the two UC schools.
What has the morale around the team been in the wake of Jim Mora's firing, was it unexpected for the players?
It was obviously pretty devastating for everyone inside of the program. Jim Mora has been in Westwood for six years. He personally recruited every single player on this roster. He was with them in their living rooms in the recruiting process and in their locker rooms for big wins and bad losses. He hired all these coaches. So, needless to say, it was emotional for the team.
And after a big win over Arizona State and a very close game against rival USC, nobody expected him to be fired Sunday.
What has Jedd Fisch done differently from Kennedy Polamalu that's made the passing game more effective?
Comparing him to Polamalu really isn’t fair. What Polamalu tried to do with UCLA was absolutely absurd. The Bruins have, and likely will always have, the personnel for a speed/spread system. Yet Polamalu tried to fit a round peg into a square hole and make a bunch of undersized speedsters run “smashmouth” style of football. It didn’t work. And when it got his O-linemen hurt from beating their undersized frames into big defensive linemen every week, it also cost Josh Rosen half a season.
Fisch really hasn’t done anything a competent coordinator wouldn’t do. He lets Rosen let it fly. He developed some creative blocking schemes to get sub-par running backs some space. And he’s played all the right guys no matter of seniority (hence why receivers Eldridge Massington and Alex Van Dyke no longer see the field but were mainstays in Polamalu’s offense).
What's been the main issue with stopping the run for the UCLA defense, and has it improved during the season?
I could write you a book on what’s wrong with UCLA’s run defense. Basically, though, it boils down to mediocre players running an awful scheme. The Bruins, under Mora, have tried to run an NFL style of run defense that requires discipline, gap control and block shedding. And when you’re playing a defense with some younger guys, that just doesn’t work. It appeared to finally get at least a little better against USC, but that was most likely due to the front seven playing extra inspired against their biggest rivals.
Considering the lack of elite talent up front, UCLA needs to play aggressive. They need to slam linebackers into gaps and send safeties into the box. But they don’t. Mora and Tom Bradley play passive, and then guys get out of their gaps and don’t shed blocks and people run all over them. It just didn’t work this season.
Who are some of the key players, offensively and defensively, to know for UCLA?
Offensively, it all starts with Josh Rosen. He’s perhaps the best football player this school has ever had. His top wideout is Jordan Lasley, who’s coming off a monster 10-catch, 200-yard, three-touchdown game. The offensive line is very solid, and young wide receiver Theo Howard has been known to make plays, too.
Defensively, the only few names that are going to change the game reside in the secondary. Adarius Pickett, Jaleel Wadood, Darnay Holmes, Octo Spencer and Nate Meadors are outstanding. Literally not one person in the front seven, however – except maybe five-star freshman Jaelan Phillips who might not play because of injury – deserves mentioning as somebody who could wreck Cal’s gameplan Friday.
What's your prediction for the game, score and otherwise?
I think UCLA gets the win. The Bruins play much better at home and they’re going to be inspired to win for Mora. I actually could see it being a romp, given how close Rosen was to Mora. I’ll say UCLA 34, Cal 21.