Anybody checked out their two-deep? Their O is loaded with upperclassmen, but their D is young.

Should be a good test for our D. In the games I've seen in my lifetime, a solid D will beat a dynamic O.

Hopefully we stop Soso J. with a better interior D-Line.

What say you, Ags?

Their D lost a lot of their starters and have talent but little experience. Their offense even with Rosen healthy was not as dynamic as it should have been. A large part of that was because of poor OL play, dropped passes, and poor RB production.

We need to keep in mind this will be their 3rd OC in 3 years.

Talent-wise we should blow them out.

They ranked 127 out of 128 rushing last year averaging about 80 yards a game. I'm expecting our defense to have a big game.

Tripacer said:

---

They ranked 127 out of 128 rushing last year averaging about 80 yards a game. I'm expecting our defense to have a big game.

---

With M.Garrett and D.Hall, we applied plenty of pressure on their QB.

That is a huge question mark this year. If we can't get to the QB, he'll pick us apart.

Or maybe if they don't make consistent receptions early we will get to their QB.

Flashdiaz said:

---

Tripacer said:

---

They ranked 127 out of 128 rushing last year averaging about 80 yards a game. I'm expecting our defense to have a big game.

---

With M.Garrett and D.Hall, we applied plenty of pressure on their QB.

That is a huge question mark this year. If we can't get to the QB, he'll pick us apart.

---

I agree. If we don't keep Rosen on the bench, this game will not go as planned.

I'm not too worried about getting pressure on Rosen. Chavis likes to get after the QB. If they don't have a vastly improved running game, there is going to be plenty of pressure.

rbcs_2 said:

---

I'm not too worried about getting pressure on Rosen. Chavis likes to get after the QB. If they don't have a vastly improved running game, there is going to be plenty of pressure.

---

I agree. I think we will have improved run defense and better coverage this year. So if we can keep them one dimensional we can focus on pass rush.

rbcs_2 said:

---

Talent-wise we should blow them out.

---

Where was the great talent differential last year ?

UCLA is always going to have good athletes.

SA68AG said:

---

rbcs_2 said:

---

Talent-wise we should blow them out.

---

Where was the great talent differential last year ?

UCLA is always going to have good athletes.

---

Not sure what you're getting at.

Good Wood said:

---

Flashdiaz said:

---

Tripacer said:

---

They ranked 127 out of 128 rushing last year averaging about 80 yards a game. I'm expecting our defense to have a big game.

---

With M.Garrett and D.Hall, we applied plenty of pressure on their QB.

That is a huge question mark this year. If we can't get to the QB, he'll pick us apart.

---

I agree. If we don't keep Rosen on the bench, this game will not go as planned.

---

I am predicting that Justin Dunning will be that 3rd down outside pass rush so long as he stays healthy......cross fingers.

rbcs_2 said:

---

SA68AG said:

---

rbcs_2 said:

---

Talent-wise we should blow them out.

---

Where was the great talent differential last year ?

UCLA is always going to have good athletes.

---

Not sure what you're getting at.

---

That there is not a big talent gap between the two teams.

They will be improved on offense.

Their new OC is Jedd Fisch, hired away from Michigan where he was the passing game coordinator. A lot of experience in college and NFL. Will run a pro-style system with a lot of formations and motion. They are going to want a downhill run game and will use plenty of play action. Mich was very good in the passing game last year.

I looked at a UCLA football page the other day and saw they posted that there are 8 returning offensive starters and seems like 6 returning defensive starters. There are 3 new OL and the rest are returners. Lost 2 DL, 1 LB and 2 DB's. This is is not a bad roster position in terms of experience, especially on Offense.

Just hard to know this will translate on the field, but they have an advantage in returning skill players on Offense. I recall last years game was big play driven with the Aggie Defense giving some yards but thwarting UCLA scoring.

With a possible new young QB starting, I don't think the Aggies want to get in a scoring shootout. I like the Aggie running game. Adequate passing and few turnovers are always crucial. The Aggies quest will be to stop the UCLA offense from easily moving the ball and scoring. If they don't it could get tough.

Just have to see how the tone is set.

Their offense torched us last year. It was their own dropped passes and Rosen's uncharacteristic bad throws that lost them the game. If we struggle to get pressure this year they will score 40+. Our offense better not leave our D out to dry like they did last year.

SA68AG said:

---

rbcs_2 said:

---

Talent-wise we should blow them out.

---

Where was the great talent differential last year ?

UCLA is always going to have good athletes.

---

Agreed. Our 4 year average recruiting ranking from 2014 - 2017 is 11.75 and UCLA's during that same 4 year stretch is 15.75 so only 4 spots behind us on overall average talent (according to #s).

So no talent wise we will not blow them out. We will have to out-coach and out-hustle them.

GetThoseKeysMilo said:

---

Their offense torched us last year. It was their own dropped passes and Rosen's uncharacteristic bad throws that lost them the game. If we struggle to get pressure this year they will score 40+. Our offense better not leave our D out to dry like they did last year.

---

The 2nd half our offense stalled on itself, which is what gave Rosen chance after chance after chance after chance to come back, which they did. They didn't torch us, they just had countless opportunities especially in the 4th quarter handed to them on a silver platter.

jwal said:

---

I looked at a UCLA football page the other day and saw they posted that there are 8 returning offensive starters and seems like 6 returning defensive starters. There are 3 new OL and the rest are returners. Lost 2 DL, 1 LB and 2 DB's. This is is not a bad roster position in terms of experience, especially on Offense.

Just hard to know this will translate on the field, but they have an advantage in returning skill players on Offense. I recall last years game was big play driven with the Aggie Defense giving some yards but thwarting UCLA scoring.

With a possible new young QB starting, I don't think the Aggies want to get in a scoring shootout. I like the Aggie running game. Adequate passing and few turnovers are always crucial. The Aggies quest will be to stop the UCLA offense from easily moving the ball and scoring. If they don't it could get tough.

Just have to see how the tone is set.

---

They lost all 4 starting DL. Plus at least 2 LB, I thought all 3 but could be wrong.

^ I agree. Defense on the road wins it. Chavis has plenty to work with and the interior of the D Line should be much better considering depth and experience. I think our LB play improves, Alaka steps up and Hines / Dodson surprise enough to slow Soso down to less than 100 yards rushing. It's the UCLA passing game with multiple Srs on their roster I am concerned with.

Given there is a good defensive performance by the Aggies, I think they still better trot an offense out there that can score 24-30 and run the clock to advantage.

Here's a quick rundown from a UCLA perspective:

Last year our offense was terrible, but our defense was solid. The offensive problems were primarily 1) A first-time OC who was trying to run a scheme that didn't fit our personnel. He was trying to run a power running game without a strong OL. We were one of the worst running teams in the country. 2) A mediocre OL with no depth. 3) Our star QB got hurt with no acceptable backup.

This year we have a new OC, new OL coach, and a good backup at QB. We are hopeful to see improvement in offense, but until we see it on the field, we don't know what to expect. The new OC, who we hired away from Michigan has a good reputation, so we are hopeful.

Our biggest question is still whether we can run the ball. I would expect your pass rush to drop off a bit, and we seem to be emphasizing more quick routes and more misdirection.

Our defense was very good last season, but wore down as the season went on. We lost talent, but we have some really good guys coming in. The biggest question marks are pass rushing and middle LB.

Our kicking game was terribly inconsistent last season. I don't know if we will be any better this year. Kirk returning kicks scares me.

As for talent, we share the honor of being the two programs who do the least with great talent, at least according to College Football News:

"The Bruins get Texas A&M in Los Angeles to kick things off in the Year Two of the showdown between the top programs that have accomplished the least with the most."

We have quality players at just about every position, although we don't seem to have a game-breaking receiver. I would love to have a player like Kirk.

All signs point to one of the best games of the opening weekend. It will be hot in Pasadena, but the Rose Bowl is a great place to tailgate.

mhBruin said:

---

All signs point to one of the best games of the opening weekend. It will be hot in Pasadena, but the Rose Bowl is a great place to tailgate.

---

Please define "hot"?

Just joking, thanks for the perspective. I'm excited about the game.

If we for fix our mentality, none of this matters.

Doesn't matter who they have.

Quote:

---

Please define "hot"?

---

Right now it is 77'F in Pasadena, California with 52% humidity

oldarmyag08 said:

---

mhBruin said:

---

All signs point to one of the best games of the opening weekend. It will be hot in Pasadena, but the Rose Bowl is a great place to tailgate.

---

Please define "hot"?

Just joking, thanks for the perspective. I'm excited about the game.

---

Probably 75-80
I use to live in Thousand Oaks

It will be 100 in CS tomorrow. At least our guys can handle the heat.

Yea thanks for the info

How much improvement do you expect to see from your OL? Last season, I lightly followed UCLA for a few weeks after our game and your OL reminded me of ours from 2008, which was the worst I've ever seen. You all couldn't run the ball for anything and Rosen took a hellacious beating for a few games before finally (and unsurprisingly) suffering a season-ending injury. FYI our 2008 QB missed almost the entire season after eating hit after hit behind his OL too. And then he came back and threw the only option pitch pick six I've ever seen, and the announcers were so taken aback they didn't know whether to call it an interception or a fumble, but I digress.

I'm surprised to read that you're as optimistic about your defense as you are. If you're right, especially with respect to your pass rush, we're in for a rough night on offense. Our OL was flat out bad for the 2 seasons preceding this last when it finally moved up to "meh." ...And then we proceeded to graduate our 2 best players on it. You'll read people on here saying that it's still going to improve, and that so and so plays with a mean streak, but we're definitely in "show me" territory given our recent performances and offseason losses. Doubly so as we'll have a young, inexperienced QB under center, which means that opposing teams can stuff the box to neutralize our strong interior line and force our tackles + QB to win the game.

Unless your OL improves a lot, it's looking a defensive struggle.

Deputy Travis Junior said:

---

How much improvement do you expect to see from your OL? Last season, I lightly followed UCLA for a few weeks after our game and your OL reminded me of ours from 2008, which was the worst I've ever seen. You all couldn't run the ball for anything and Rosen took a hellacious beating for a few games before finally (and unsurprisingly) suffering a season-ending injury. FYI our 2008 QB missed almost the entire season after eating hit after hit behind his OL too. And then he came back and threw the only option pitch pick six I've ever seen, and the announcers were so taken aback they didn't know whether to call it an interception or a fumble, but I digress.

I'm surprised to read that you're as optimistic about your defense as you are. If you're right, especially with respect to your pass rush, we're in for a rough night on offense. Our OL was flat out bad for the 2 seasons preceding this last when it finally moved up to "meh." ...And then we proceeded to graduate our 2 best players on it. You'll read people on here saying that it's still going to improve, and that so and so plays with a mean streak, but we're definitely in "show me" territory given our recent performances and offseason losses. Doubly so as we'll have a young, inexperienced QB under center, which means that opposing teams can stuff the box to neutralize our strong interior line and force our tackles + QB to win the game.

Unless your OL improves a lot, it's looking a defensive struggle.

---

As I am sure you realize, it is very hard to judge your own team from camp. Is the OL looking better or is the DL looking weaker. But coming out of fall camp last year, everyone said our OL wasn't very good and was one injury away from a disaster. This year the reports are more optimistic. As a fan, I want to believe them. We won't know for sure until we line up against someone other than ourselves.

We did lose our best OL from last year to graduation, so that is an issue.

One problem last season is the Josh Rosen held on to the ball too long. This season he is being encouraged to take the short gain rather than try for the home run. We will have to see if he does that in a real game.

We are also hopeful that a good OC can call plays that compensate for OL issues. Hopeful means we aren't sure it will happen. The new OC comes with great credentials, but we haven't seen him do it yer.

As for defense, we will be smaller in the DL this season which worries some about the run defense. We lost our two big DT's. Question is whether we can compensate for less size with more speed. Can we stop a power running game?

We also lost 2 really good pass rushing DE's to graduation. The backup are all highly-rated players and our 5-star true freshman has been the talk of training camp. His name is Jaelan Phillips and he will likely be starting.

And we have a GREAT secondary, with tons of talent.

I think the biggest reason we feel pretty good about our defense is our 2nd-year DC was DC at Penn State under Paterno and was the architect of a series of great defenses there. (He was not at all implicated in the scandal.) He clearly knows what he is doing, and we expect he will be able to use the talent well.

Biggest questions are can we run the ball and stop the run.

Interesting take. Thanks for sharing.

Nice take Bruin- thanks for the input!

Agree...This game is really interesting in that it pits strengths vs weaknesses for both teams. What happens at the line of scrimmage will likely determine the outcome unless one team has excessive turnovers.

Josh Rosen is one tough dude. We punished him last year and he kept getting up. Don't expect us to get the same amount of pressure, but there is a significant likelihood that our alleged improved run D can make UCLA one dimensional.

With our youth and inexperience at QB combined with the losses the Bruins have on the D line, one has to wonder if we break from our established modus and play smash mouth football.

Quite intriguing...

Good Wood said:

---

Flashdiaz said:

---

Tripacer said:

---

They ranked 127 out of 128 rushing last year averaging about 80 yards a game. I'm expecting our defense to have a big game.

---

With M.Garrett and D.Hall, we applied plenty of pressure on their QB.

That is a huge question mark this year. If we can't get to the QB, he'll pick us apart.

---

I agree. If we don't keep Rosen on the bench, this game will not go as planned.

---

Eat dust Rosen!

The worst QB is one trying to earn an NFL paycheck. They try to make the NFL throws and press the ball into coverage. It happens year in and year out.