A season on the brink? Five things to watch when UCLA faces Washington State
It might seem a little early in the season for desperate hours, but that’s where UCLA will find itself Saturday afternoon.
If the Bruins want to do anything special this season, they must beat Washington State at the Rose Bowl.
A win against the No. 13 Cougars (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) would considerably ease the sting of UCLA’s seven-point clunker against Utah. It also would sustain hopes that the Bruins (3-1, 0-1) can end their season somewhere besides another uninspiring bowl game.
A loss would unleash doomsday scenarios. It would essentially eliminate UCLA from the Pac-12 race the first week in October. The Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl might seem like a best-case scenario, accompanying punch lines notwithstanding. Chip Kelly would likely hear renewed calls for his job before he got off the field.
Which way will it go? Here are five things to watch in a game starting at noon that will be televised by the Pac-12 Network:
The comeback kid?
There’s no sugarcoating how rough things were for UCLA quarterback Dante Moore in his last game.
The true freshman had his first pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He was sacked seven times, including his final play. In a sign of how things went, he limped into the interview room.
Most of his struggles could be pinned on an offensive line that failed to protect him and a receiving corps that dropped several passes, including a sure touchdown. But Moore was hardly perfect, failing to find open receivers and overthrowing passes.
What might portend a better showing Saturday is the lack of head-hanging by a player used to nothing but winning after leading his high school team to back-to-back state championships and quickly becoming a college starter.
“Dante is the same person every day,” Kelly said. “That’s one thing we love about him, his consistency in terms of his work ethic, film study, meetings, training. I don’t think he’s governed by outside influences. He’s got an internal, intrinsic drive that he wants to be better on a daily basis and continues to strive to be like that, so he’s been great.”
Robust run game
Even with a dud against Utah in which the Bruins ran for just nine yards — mostly as a result of all those sacks — their one-two tandem of Carson Steele and T.J. Harden has exceeded the production of departed running back Zach Charbonnet.
It might surprise you to learn that Steele and Harden have combined to surpass Charbonnet’s 2022 averages in rushing yards per game (134 versus 104.3) and yards per carry (7 versus 6.4), albeit with a combined 19.3 carries per game versus Charbonnet’s 16.3.
On Saturday, they will face a Washington State defense that’s had a hard time stopping the run. The Cougars have allowed 131.8 yards per game on the ground, ranking No. 59 nationally and No. 8 in the Pac-12.
Read more: UCLA vs. Washington State top five games: Cougars often were the gutsier team
‘D’ may be worthy of an ‘A’
The numbers look good. What do they mean?
Answers could come Saturday.
UCLA is giving up 11 points per game, one of six teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision to hold opponents to that number or less. The Bruins’ 9.5 tackles for loss per game rank No. 4 nationally, with edge rusher Laiatu Latu accounting for 1.9 per game.
Then again, this defense has not faced anything close to Washington State’s offense. Quarterback Cam Ward has accounted for 1,394 passing yards through the first four games, the most of any Power Five conference player since 1996. He’s thrown 141 passes without an interception, the most of any FBS quarterback this season.
Given that Cougars wide receiver Lincoln Victor is reportedly recovering more quickly than expected from the high-ankle injury he suffered against Oregon State on Sept. 23, Ward could have all three of his top options available at the Rose Bowl. Josh Kelly rolled up 159 yards receiving and three touchdowns against the Beavers, while Kyle Williams added 174 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Just for kick(off)s
Kelly turned testy when a reporter questioned his usage of Colson Yankoff on kickoff returns given the redshirt senior’s 6-foot-4 frame and lack of wiggle despite tremendous straight-ahead speed.
“I know you have a bias against big kick returners,” Kelly told the reporter, “you’ve always had a bias against big kick returners, and it’s obvious in your line of questioning.”
Maybe, maybe not, but the numbers warranted the question. Yankoff has averaged 19.6 yards on his five returns this season, meaning he would have been more productive signaling for a fair catch and giving his team the ball on the 25.
An opportunity to prove the reporter wrong could come against Washington State’s special teams, which have given up only three kickoff returns — all of which have gone horribly wrong. The Cougars’ opponents have averaged 55 yards on those returns, including a touchdown, leaving Washington State last in the nation in kickoff return defense.
Read more: Is UCLA's defense for real? The first true test, against Washington State, could tell
Remembering ‘The Pirate’
Kelly said Mike Leach would be in his thoughts during the game after the former Washington State coach died in December from a heart issue.
The coaches’ last meeting, in 2019, resulted in one of the wackiest games in Pac-12 history. Down by 32 points in the third quarter, UCLA rallied for a 67-63 victory that defied belief and newspaper deadlines. The teams combined for 1,377 yards and 18 touchdowns in a game that sparked “Dewey Defeats Truman” headlines in early newspaper editions.
“That was one that you think about,” Kelly said.
The same could be said for Leach, the offensive innovator who was also willing to predict who would win a battle of Pac-12 mascots. (“Butch will find a way, there’s no question,” Leach said of the Cougars’ mascot. “Clear-minded and crafty, a combination of stay out of harm’s way and attack when you get your chances.”)
“He was just such a special person,” Kelly said. “He definitely marched to a different beat than most people and [was] truly entertaining, but really, really intelligent, really smart. Always kind of made you think any time you had a conversation with him; he’d bring up some points and you’re like, ‘All right, I haven’t looked at it that way.’”
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
