D’Anton Lynn transformed UCLA’s defense in one season, against all odds
You saw UCLA’s defense in 2022. You saw USC beat the Bruins 48-45 in a pure track meet, a wild shootout in which defense was mostly optional. UCLA had a Swiss cheese defense, a sieve, a leaky unit which was very frail and vulnerable.
D’Anton Lynn greatly improved it in one season. Keep in mind that as good as UCLA’s defense looked from a statistical standpoint in 2023, the context makes the Bruins look even better. As good as the actual numbers are, UCLA’s defense actually performed even better than those stats suggest. This is because UCLA’s offense struggled a lot in 2023. The offense couldn’t stay on the field very long. The defense had to do most of the work in UCLA’s games. A really good example of this was the UCLA-Utah game in Salt Lake City. The Bruins scored just seven points and played terribly on offense. The UCLA defense could have crumbled at any point, but it stood strong, allowing just seven points to Utah’s offense. Utah won 14-7 because of a pick-six thrown by UCLA quarterback Dante Moore. That’s the kind of performance D’Anton Lynn produced from the Bruins.
There’s a lot more to say about UCLA’s 2023 defense under D’Anton Lynn, which should have USC fans excited for 2024 and beyond:
NUMBER 11 -- USC WILL TAKE THAT!
D’Anton Lynn lead his defense to #11 Ranked in the Nation.
With USC’s talent, and portal acquisitions we can easily achieve this again.
Imagine if Caleb came back… oof🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZEBIML9Fc5
— Trojan Football (@TrojanFBx) December 2, 2023
LESS THAN A YEAR!
What's fun about the D'Anton Lynn hire is that he turned around UCLA's defense in less than a year. That will be the expectation in year one at USC next season. That's awesome and will make for some great podcast content.
— Connor Morrissette (@C_Morrissette) December 2, 2023
HUGE IMPROVEMENT AT UCLA
While I’ve got some time until this kickoff:
Under D’Anton Lynn’s direction, UCLA went from 12th-worst to 71st against the pass, 34th to No. 1 against the run, 89th to 16th in points allowed and 89th to No. 11 in total defense.
Some of the credit goes to Ikaika Malloe, though
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) December 2, 2023
SPLASH HIRE
I wrote about D’Anton Lynn’s overnight turnaround of UCLA’s defense earlier this season. Anyone who hires Lynn is making a splash, but for USC to scoop him away from rival UCLA? That’s a whole ‘nother level. https://t.co/hF0YPo4ULw https://t.co/Aw9Q2MSBu8
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) December 2, 2023
COMMON OPPONENTS
Common Opponents: USC / UCLA
Points Allowed by each defense
D’Anton Lynn = 19 ppg allowed
Alex Grinch = 34 ppg allowedUtah:
USC – 34
UCLA – 14Stanf:
USC: 10
UCLA: 7ASU:
USC: 28
UCLA: 17USC: 41
UCLA: 16USC: 41
UCLA: 27Cal:
USC: 49
Ucla: 33— we back (@SamoanWoj) December 2, 2023
PLAYER DEVELOPMENT
If you think Lynn can’t coach:
UCLA Defense 2022: 92nd
UCLA Defense 223: 11thIf you think he can’t develop:
He turned Laiatu Latu into one of the best defensive players in the country✌️
— Sidelines – USC 🏴☠️ (@SSN_USC) December 2, 2023
STOPPED THE UTAH OFFENSE
FINAL: Utah 14, UCLA 7
Utah is 4-0 and Cam Rising hasn't played a snap. The Utes' defense had 11 tackles for loss, seven sacks and two takeaways in today's win.
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) September 23, 2023
HELD WAZZU TO 17 POINTS
FINAL#UCLA 25, No. 13 Washington State 17
The Bruins outgain the Cougars 482–216 and come up BIG on defense pick up a critical win at the Rose Bowl‼️
Bruins improve to 4–1 (1–1 Pac-12). pic.twitter.com/MaZegaonLQ
— UCLA Football Countdown 🎄 (@CountdownUcla) October 7, 2023
UCLA SMOTHERED SHEDEUR SANDERS, UNLIKE USC
Shedeur Sanders is going to have nightmares of yesterdays loss to UCLA 😬
According to PFF, UCLA’s defense caused 44 total pressures, with 8 sacks and 27 QB hurries 🥵
Laiatu Latu, Gabriel Murphy & Grayson Murphy did the most damage ❌pic.twitter.com/yAU7A0866l
— Redshirt Heisman (@TasteOfSport) October 29, 2023
ONLY QUICK PASSES WORKED, NOTHING ELSE
#CUBuffs doing exactly what they should against a UCLA defense that boasts one of the best defensive lines in the country. Lots of quick passes to running backs for Shedeur Sanders and Buffs are already up to the Bruins 25-yardl ine.
— Tyler King (@King_TylerB) October 28, 2023
IMMEDIATE PRESSURE ON ANY SLOW-DEVELOPING CU PLAYS
Jeez, this UCLA defense is just facing no resistance from the #CUBuffs offensive line. Buffs can't capitalize on the big completion to Xavier Weaver. Shedeur Sanders under immediate pressure on the next 3 plays.
— Tyler King (@King_TylerB) October 29, 2023
ADJUSTED NUMBERS
Things I really like about D'Anton Lynn
+ Opponent-adjusted numbers at UCLA rock
+ Made life very hard for #USC's offense
+ Comes from the Ravens tree/NFL experience
+ Turned around a bad defense quickly
+ Stealing UCLA's DC (only thing they liked this year) is objectively funny— Alicia de Artola Castillo (@PenguinOfTroy) December 2, 2023
TOP-15 DEFENSE
UCLA is No. 12 in total defense in FBS, so defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn is going to earn his $50,000 bonus for finishing in top 25 unless Cal rolls up like 2,000 yards.
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) November 26, 2023
BIG JUMP
While I’ve got some time until this kickoff:
Under D’Anton Lynn’s direction, UCLA went from 12th-worst to 71st against the pass, 34th to No. 1 against the run, 89th to 16th in points allowed and 89th to No. 11 in total defense.
Some of the credit goes to Ikaika Malloe, though
— Tracy McDannald 📎 (@Tracy_McDannald) December 2, 2023
UCLA D CARRIED THE BRUINS THIS YEAR
That turned out to be WAZZU's only highlight thanks to UCLA's defense. @BruinReport
— Lou Goodman (@coachlou35) October 8, 2023
NOW MOVING TO USC!
Looking forward to seeing my alma mater #UCLA 🐻🏈 playing and continuing their improvement on defense, as well as seeing Dante Moore officially taking the reins at QB (You better name him the official starter, Chip!) 🙂
Until then,
I'm gonna post the highlights#GOBRUINS 🐻🏈😄— SoCal Sports Chronicles (@socalshfanatic) September 10, 2023
