As the saying goes, a win is a win. But if ever the legitimacy of that adage was to be tested, Saturday’s 16-13 outcome for the UCLA Bruins would be exhibits A-Z.
UCLA overcame a 10-point halftime deficit where it was shockingly shutout despite the arrival of famed offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and grinded out three field goals in the game’s final 16 minutes to escape the pesky Rainbow Warriors unscathed.
The Bruins leave that glorious part of the world with one win…and a litany of questions, with three areas emphatically standing out as deep concerns.
UCLA Bruins Shaky Offensive Line
The Bruins’ O-Line prognostications have read like a Los Angeles earthquake report over the past month. There was a sense of crisis coming out of spring practice given its depth, size, and ability.
Reinforcements in the form of Alani Makihele and Reuben Unije brought renewed optimism in fall camp, but yesterday’s game brought that positivity crashing down like a famed Hawaiian tidal wave.
Makihele and Unije both looked raw, tentative, and overmatched, while veteran stalwart Garrett DiGiorgio was a game-time scratch. The result was a Bruins’ rushing offense that could only muster 71 yards on 20 carries, as quarterback Ethan Garbers accounted for nearly 70% of that total with a meager 47 yards on a handful of scrambles. Starting running back TJ Hardn was stuffed with nine carries for nine yards.
If this unit doesn’t improve fast and with step function jumps, the Bruins will struggle to win any remaining game on their schedule.
Related: UCLA Bruins Sophomore Propels Team To Victory
Lack Of Edge Rush
This was the cliffhanger question pregame, namely, how the Bruins could reestablish edge rush dominance after the departures of Laiatu Latu, Carl Jones Jr., as well as Gabriel and Grayson Murphy. We weren’t on the edge of our seats very long.
UCLA’s glaring inability to bring pressure off the edge with four down lineman was a primary culprit in Hawaii’s early lead. Credit defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe for adjusting his scheme with more disguised pressures from the likes of linebackers Kain Medrano and Femi Oladejo as well as defensive back KJ Wallace.
The Bruins did end up with five sacks and 11 tackles for loss from 10 different players, but that was a direct result of needing to outsmart the Rainbow Warriors with pressure from five, six, and sometimes seven players at all different directions of the field, including some effective corner blitzes, particularly with Wallace.
If the Bruins couldn’t generate consistent and effective pressure with a standard front four against a Mountain West program, how will they effectively do so in the BIG-10 without significantly compromising secondary and tertiary levels of the defense?
Related: UCLA Football Podcast – Game Recap
Bizarre Game Management
A number of questionable decisions from Bieniemy and head coach DeShaun Foster will lead to closer observations in the weeks to come.
For Bieniemy’s part, his decision to throw 19 times in the first half while only running seven was a bit too extreme even for his aggressive style. Furthermore, throwing with 20 seconds left in the first half at its own 6-yard line which led to a Garbers interception, as well as the repeated passing attempts inside 90 seconds of the 4th quarter with a chance to salt the game away and not even put matters into the Rainbow Warriors’ hands, leave a sense of anxiety about future critical game situations.
For Foster, there seemed to be a number of first-game jitters and overthinking. There was the game’s opening drive decision to punt on 4th & 5 from the Hawaii 44-yard line with an opportunity to establish tone. Followed by the choice to kick a field goal on 4th & 4 at the Hawaii 34-yard line late in the first half after a timeout indicating the Bruins would go for it.
Expect Foster to get into more of an operational groove as the season progresses – but the lack of head coaching experience certainly emerged.
At the end of the day, it’s 1-0. But thankfully the UCLA Bruins have two weeks to prepare for Indiana because there’s a lot of work to do.