Given the beleaguered 1-1 UCLA Bruins come to Baton Rouge and visit the #16 LSU Tigers as 22.5-point underdogs with two primary interior defensive linemen, Jay Toia and Keanu Williams, presumably out with injury, it’s hard to envision UCLA even having an 11.9% chance of winning the game, according to ESPN’s football probability index (FPI). But here’s the one thing the gutty Bruins can do defensively to surprise the Tigers and stay in the game with an opportunity for a monumental upset – rush three and drop eight.
UCLA Bruins vs LSU Tigers
Puts Your Best Defensive Talent in Playmaking Positions

UCLA’s inability to set the edge with high-quality defensive end play has been deeply problematic in the first two games of the season. Jacob Busic and Devin Aipiu have been moderately serviceable, and are truly more rotational pieces on contending quality defensive lines, far from clear-cut starters. Now with Toia and Williams most likely missing in action, the Bruins likelihood of generating consistent pressure up front is about as probable as Joe Biden re-entering the presidential race. So why even bother with four down linemen and seven in the box?
Dropping eight in coverage allows the athleticism of veterans Devin Kirkwood, Jaylin Davies, Ramon Henderson, Bryan Addison, KJ Wallace, JonJon Vaughns, Kain Medrano, Ale Kaho and Femi Oladejo to shine in space off underneath throws and consistent straight-line rushes.
Forces LSU to Stay Disciplined

Making the Tigers’ offense dink and dunk down the field to get their scoring drives will eat up the precious game clock and limit the total number of possessions in the game, thereby not letting the score get out of control. But it will also enable UCLA to artificially generate some stops because putting together 10-play, 12-play 14-play drives requires repeated execution without getting behind the sticks…a consistency the Tigers have yet to show this season.
In fact, LSU has gotten 26 penalties over the first three games of the season, good for nearly nine per game. The chances of the Tigers going mistake-free over a prolonged drive are slim and can be a way for UCLA to morph touchdown drives into field goals and promising ones into stops. By dropping back eight and consciously conceding the 6-yard play, as the proverbial saying goes, the Bruins might just be giving the LSU offense enough rope to hang themselves.
Opens Up the Emergence of a Star

Having only three down linemen will be predicated on winning individual matchups with raw athleticism, explosiveness, and quickness. Enter Collins Acheampong, the highly touted 6-7. 270-pound hybrid edge/interior defensive lineman that had Bruin coaches salivating in the spring. A hometown kid, Acheampong is originally from Rancho Santa Margarita before initially committing to the University of Miami Hurricanes, and then finding his way to Westwood.
Just from a raw capability perspective, Acheampong has the physical tools to be one of the Bruins’ greatest defensive linemen over the past twenty years. This would be an ideal coming-out party for the freshman phenom – just pin your ears back, rely on your physical gifts, cut it loose, and learn the playbook later. Expect to see a dose of Acheampong, fireworks are promised either way.
The element of surprise is the Bruins’ best opportunity to stay in the game Saturday, and what better than a completely different defensive look than what has been on tape so far in 2024?