UCLA 2015 Record: 8-5
vs Virginia 34-16 W #13
@ UNLV 37-3 W #13
vs #19 BYU 24-23 W #10
@ #16 Arizona 56-30 W #9
vs Arizona St 23-38 L #7
@ #15 Stanford 35-56 L #18
vs #20 California 40-24 W
vs Colorado 35-31 W #24
@ Oregon State 41-0 W #22
vs Washington State 27-31 L #18
@ #18 Utah 17-9 W
@ USC 21-40 L #22
vs Nebraska 29-37 L
UCLA Bruins 2016 Record: 1-1
@ Texas A&M 24-31 L (OT)
vs UNLV 42-21 W
@ BYU
vs Stanford
vs Arizona
@ Arizona State
@ Washington State
vs Utah
@ Colorado
vs Oregon State
vs USC
@ California
Kalani Sitake vs. Jim Mora
Jim Mora:
Season: 5th
Record: 38-17
Away: 17-7
vs Non-P5: 8-0
Kalani Sitake:
Season: 1st
Record: 1-1
Home: N/A
vs P5: 1-1
vs UCLA: N/A
BYU vs UCLA: 3-8
Largest Margin of Victory: 59-0 (’08)
Largest Margin of Loss: 68-14 (’93)
Last Game: 23-24 L (’15)
UCLA depth chart
OFFENSE
QB: #3 Josh Rosen (SO)
RB: #9 Soso Jamabo (SO)
LT: #68 Conor McDermott (SR)
LG: #59 Zach Bateman (JR)
C: #52 Scott Quessenberry (JR)
RG: #71 Poasi Moala (JR)
RT: #77 Kolton Miller (SO)
WR: #82 Eldridge Massington (JR)
WR: #10 Kenneth Walker (SR)
WR/FB: #88 Austin R0berts (SO)
TE: #11 Nate Iese (SR)
DEFENSE
DL: #96 Eli Ankou (SR)
DL: #98 Takkarist McKinley (SR)
DL: #47 Eddie Vanderdoes (JR)
DL: #99 Matt Dickerson (JR)
LB: #12 Jayon Brown (SR)
LB: #42 Kenny Young (JR)
LB: #19 Josh Woods (SO)
DB: #10 Fabian Moreau (SR)
DB: #6 Adarius Pickett (SO)
DB: #3 Randall Goforth (SR)
DB: #22 Nate Meadors (SO)
Special Teams:
Punter: #92 Austin Kent (FR)
Kicker: #17 JJ Molson (FR)
Kick Off: #17 JJ Molson (FR)
LS: #33 Johnny Den Bleyker (FR)
PR: #1 Ishmael Adams (SR)
KR: #1 Ishmael Adams (SR)
Offense:
UCLA runs an up-tempo spread option offense similar to what BYU ran under Robert Anae in 2014 and 2015 with Christian Stewart and Tanner Mangum at the helm. This team loses a large amount of veteran production at the skill positions from the 2015 season with running back Paul Perkins (237 carries, 1343 yards, 14 touchdowns) leaving for the NFL as well as wide receivers Jordan Payton (78 receptions, 1105 yards, 5 touchdowns), Thomas Duarte (53 receptions, 872 yards, 10 touchdowns), and Devin Fuller (24 receptions, 259 yards, 3 touchdowns). The veteran of this offense is now superstar sophomore Josh Rosen (292/487 for 3668 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions) who burst onto the scene as a true freshman earning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. The Bruins have a balanced attack which slightly favors passing the ball with 86 pass plays and 80 run plays so far this season.
Josh Rosen may be the best underclassman quarterback in the NCAA in terms of physical ability. Rosen has a big body, strong arm, and had an impressive 2015 campaign quarterbacking the offense in Pasadena, but Rosen is far from perfect. Against Texas A&M, Rosen struggled in the first three quarters of the game throwing three interceptions after the Aggies brought different blitz packages to apply pressure and varied their looks in the defensive backfield which created issues for the Bruins pass game. BYU was able to confuse Rosen last year with different defensive packages and forced his worst game ever as a college quarterback where he was 11/23 with three interceptions and was held to 106 yards.
Sotonye (Soso) Jamabo is a huge part of the UCLA defense that BYU will have to account for. Last year, the Cougars were burned by Paul Perkins and Nate Starks on the ground as the two combined for 300 yards rushing. Jamabo only received two carries against BYU last year but he takes over for Perkins as the primary ball carrier in a dangerous run offense. The Cougars will need to play assignment sound and wrap up on tackles in order to stop Jamabo who is a dangerous threat to account for in both the run and pass game. The Bruins also will utilize Brandon Stephens and Bolu Olurunfunmi but to less of a degree.
Entering the 2016 season, UCLA was left without three of their top four receiving threats wth Payton, Duarte, and Fuller all leaving. The Bruins haven’t found a number one threat so far this season and have been spreading the ball around with six players accounting for five or more catches and 16 with catches so far this season. Kenneth Walker III leads the team in yards with 122 on seven catches, he also has one receiving touchdown. Other players who will see significant time are Eldridge Massington, Jordan Lasley, and Darren Andrews.
UCLA’s offensive line loses Jake Brendel who had 52 career starts at center as well as Alex Redmond and Caleb Benenoch who had 32 and 35 starts, respectively. The Bruins only gave up 14 sacks in 2015 after giving up 40 in 2014 and could be just as good as last year’s unit. The will be anchored in the middle by Scott Quessenberry and on the ends by tackles Conor McDermott and Kolton Miller who both stand at 6’9″ and could create issues for the BYU pass rush.
2015 Team Stats:
Points Scored Per Game: 32.2
2016: 33
Rushing Yardage: 2300
Returning for 2016: 886 (38.5%)
2016: 344
Receiving Yardage: 3755
Returning for 2016: 1250 (33.3%)
2016: 623
Passing Yardage: 3755
Returning for 2016: 3689 (98.2%)
2016: 623
Total Offense: 9810
Returning for 2016: 5825 (59.4%)
2016: 1590
Fumbles: 14
Recovered: 8
Lost: 6
2016: 3
Recovered: 2
Lost: 1
Interceptions: 13
Returning for 2016: 11
2016: 3
Sacks Allowed: 14 (-118 yds)
2016: 6 (-47 yds)
First Downs: 300
Rushing: 119
Passing: 164
Penalty: 17
2016: 58
Rushing: 21
Passing: 31
Penalty: 6
Third Down Conversion: 88/195 (45.1%)
2016: 13/31 (41.9%)
Fourth Down Conversion: 8/14 (57.1%)
2016: 3/4 (75%)
Penalties: 108 (-914 yds)
2016: 13 (-91 yds)
Red Zone Efficiency: 51/57 (89.5%)
2016: 8/11 (72.7%)
Red Zone TDs: 35/57 (61.4%)
2016: 5/11 (45.5%)
PAT Attempts: 47/47 (100%)
2016: 7/7 (100%)
Individual Stats:
Returning from 2015 Season
QB Josh Rosen: 292/487 for 3668 yds, 23 TDs and 11 INTs, 37 carries for 16 yds and 2 TDs; RB Soso Jamabo: 66 carries for 404 yds and 4 TDs, 5 receptions for 58 yds; RB Nate Starks: 50 carries for 320 yds and 5 TDs, 7 receptions for 49 yds and 1 TD; RB Bolu Olorunfunmi: 35 carries for 190 yds, 2 reception for 30 yds; WR Darren Andrews: 43 receptions for 443 yds and 1 TD; TE Nate Iese: 11 receptions for 96 yds
2016 Season
QB Josh Rosen: 59/84 for 610 yds, 1 TD and 3 INTs, 11 carries for -15 yds and 1 TD; RB Soso Jamabo: 34 carries for 181 yds and 3 TDs, 6 receptions for 63 yds; RB Brandon Stephens: 11 carries for 71 yds; RB Bolu Olorunfunmi: 14 carries for 68 yds and 2 TDs, 1 reception for 2 yds; WR Kenneth Walker: 7 receptions for 122 yds and 1 TD; WR Eldridge Massington: 7 receptions for 76 yds; WR Darren Andrews: 6 receptions for 69 yds; WR Austin Roberts: 5 receptions for 61 yds
Defense:
UCLA will run a 4-3 defense and the front seven is anchored by Eli Ankou, Eddie Vanderdoes, and Kenny Young. Vanderdoes is battling injury this week and missed the 2015 season to injury but is a major force on the DL when available. Kenny Young is the next great UCLA LB and has 20 career starts and is seen as a versatile playmaker on their defense and could create some issues for BYU. The pass defense had 12 interceptions in 2015 and return all but one in 2016 with a number of talented playmakers in the secondary and linebacker core who could cause a headache for BYU’s passing game.
Up the middle, Eli Ankou and Eddie Vanderdoes are both mountains which BYU will have to key on to make movement in the running game. UCLA has struggled in the running game giving up 189 rushing yards per game. The DL has also struggled to get pressure against opposing QBs with the lone sack on the season coming from LB Kenny Young so in passing situations BYU should be able to control pass pro and give Taysom a good pocket to distribute the ball to his receivers.
Kenny Young is UCLA’s best playmaker and missed the majority of last year’s game after being called for targeting early on in the game. The LB core loses Myles Jack to the NFL who was projected as the #2 LB before suffering a season ending injury in the game following BYU last year. Jayon Brown and Kenny Young are both tackling machines for the LB core with 14 tackles a piece. Young has one tackle for loss, one sack, and one fumble recovery for the defense and BYU will need to account for him to succeed.
Fabian Moreau returned for his senior year at UCLA after receiving high draft ratings early on in the season. The Bruins also return Randall Goforth and Jaleel Wadood who started a combined 25 games in the secondary last year. BYU will need to create separation in the passing game with their receivers in order to move the ball effectively against this secondary which has 3 INTs so far this season.
2015 Team Stats:
Points Allowed Per Game: 26
2016: 26
Turnover Ratio: 19:19
2016: 4:4
Forced Fumbles: 17
Fumbles Recovered: 7
2016: 1
Fumbles Recovered: 1
Interceptions: 12
Returning for 2016: 11
2016: 3
Sacks: 28 (-176 yds)
Returning for 2016: 4.5 (-92 yds)
2016: 1 (-8 yds)
TFL: 71 (-324 yds)
Returning for 2016: 37 (-167 yds)
2016: 3 (-14 yds)
QBH: 8
Returning for 2016: 7
2016: 1
PBU: 67
Returning for 2016: 58
2016: 10
INTs: 12 (156 yds, 2 TDs)
Returning for 2016: 11 (153 yds, 2 TDs)
2016: 3 INT (49 yds)
TDs allowed: 35
Rushing: 17
Passing: 18
2016: 7
Rushing: 5
Passing: 2
First Downs Allowed: 307
Rushing: 150
Passing: 128
Penalty: 29
2016: 41
Rushing: 20
Passing: 19
Penalty: 2
Third Down Conversion: 86/217 (39.6%)
2016: 12/30 (40%)
Fourth Down Conversion: 15/27 (55.6%)
2016: 3/5 (60%)
Red Zone Efficiency: 41/49 (83.7%)
2016: 7/8 (87.5%)
Red Zone TDs: 26/46 (53.1%)
2016: 6/8 (75%)
PAT Attempts: 33/35 (94.3%)
2016: 7/7 (100%)
Key Defensive Players:
Returning from 2015 Season
LB Jayon Brown: 93 tackles, 1.5 TFL, .5 sack, 6 PBU, 1 FR; DB Jaleel Wadood: 72 tackles, 4 TFL, 4 PBU, 2 INT, 1 FR; DB Randall Goforth: 70 tackles, 6 PBU, 2 INT, 1 FR; LB Kenny Young: 69 tackles, 5 TFL, .5 sack, 1 INT, 1 QBH, 2 FF; LB Isaako Savaiinaea: 62 tackles, 1.5 sacks, .5 TFL, 2 PBU, 1 INT; Marcus Rios: 49 tackles, .5 TFL, 7 PBU; Eli Ankou: 47 tackles, 5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 2 PBU, 1 INT; Tahaan Goodman: 38 tackles, 1 TFL, .5 sack, 2 PBU; Matt Dickerson: 38 tackles, 4 TFL, 1 sack, 4 PBU, 1 QBH
2016 Season
LB Jayon Brown: 14 tackles, 1 PBU; DL Eli Ankou: 14 tackles; LB Kenny Young: 14 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FR; DB Tahaan Goodman: 12 tackles, 1 PBU; DL Matt Dickerson: 8 tackles; DB Randall Goforth: 7 tackles, 2 INT, 4 PBU; DL Jacob Tuioti-Mariner: 7 tackles, 1 QBH
Special Teams:
Ishmael Adams saw lots of time as the primary punt and kick returner in 2014 but was replaced by Devin Fuller in 2015 but Adam will take the main spot again for 2016. Adams had 21 punt returns in 2014 with a long of 45 yds, on kick return he had 26 returns for 591 yds and 1 TD of 100 yds.
The Bruins will replace their kicker and punter from 2015 with Matt Mengel and Ka’imi Fairbairn both graduating. They will be replaced by JJ Molson as the kicker, and Austin as the punter. Molson has yet to hit a FG beyond 40 yards this season so BYU can limit scoring by keeping them out of the red zone.
Scoring:
JJ Molson: 3/4 FG, 1-29: 2/2, 30-39: 1/1, 40+: 0/1, lg 38
Kickoffs:
JJ Molson: 12 KO, 749 yds, 62.4 avg, 1 TB, 1 OOB
Punts:
Austin Kent: 8 punts, 348 yds, 43.5 avg, lg 55, 4 FC, 3 i20, 2 50+
Kick Returns:
2015:
Ishmael Adams: 7 returns, 140 yds, 20 avg, 36 lg
2016:
Ishmael Adams: 6 returns, 142 yds, 23.7 avg, 38 lg
Punt Returns:
2015:
Ishmael Adams: 4 returns, 21 yds, 5.2 avg, 12 lg
2016:
Ishmael Adams: 7 returns, 31 yds, 4.4 avg, 19 lg
