If you are a UCLA fan you must be asking where the bottom is, so you know if you are getting close to being able to look up.
Week one, head coach Chip Kelly said the Bruins had trouble tackling. Week two was a litany of problems that come with being over-matched against an elite team.
UCLA Can’t Stop Fresno State Or Itself
In Saturday’s 38-14 loss to Fresno State, (before 60,867 at the Rose Bowl), the Bruins suffered from repeated self-inflicted wounds. It wasn’t just that UCLA had 11 penalties for 96 yards. Nor was it just the lack of discipline that comes with those numbers. It was the timing of them. UCLA extended several Fresno State drives with penalties after stopping the Bulldogs on downs. The Bruins also killed much their own momentum on offense with penalties.
All in all Saturday’s loss left UCLA 0-3 in the Kelly era, fans booing as early as the end of the first quarter and leaving early at the end of the third quarter with the Bruins down by 17.
UCLA is 0-3. The Kansas Jayhawks, a perennial national doormat, are 2-1, but UCLA with its highly anticipated new coach is 0-3 and the upside is somewhere in the murky distance. It leaves a lot of questions for Kelly.
Where To Start?
“You’re obviously disappointed in the result of what happened but it’s not because of what happened in week one or week two,” Kelly said after the game. “We look at every week as its own individual week in our preparation for our opponent. We knew this was a really good football team coming in. They won 10 games last year and went to a bowl game. They outcoached us and they outplayed us tonight.”
We could just end the analysis there, but the details matter.
Fresno State drove the length of the field on the opening series, going 75 yards and ending with a one-yard run by quarterback Marcus McMaryion. A missed PAT made it 6-0, but it was not like UCLA could take advantage of any Fresno State miscue. McMaryion would later hit receiver Kyle Riddering with a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 13-0 first quarter lead.
UCLA momentum? They had some for three consecutive plays. And then quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson fumbled the snap from center and the Bulldogs recovered. That was pretty much the story of the night. Fresno State added a 28-yard field goal and the lead was 16-0.
Trying To Get In The Game
With any UCLA success, it did not come without pain first. McMaryion fumbled after being hit by UCLA linebacker Keisean Lucier-South, and the Bruins recovered. On fourth-and-three and desperate for any momentum, Kelly went for it. Thompson-Robinson completed a six-yard pass to Theo Howard for the first down. That was promptly followed by a 15-yard dead ball penalty against the Bruins. The next play was a 45-yard Thompson-Robinson to Howard touchdown pass, but nothing was coming easy for UCLA.
At 16-7 at halftime, it would seem the Bruins should feel like they were back in the game. The stats said it was competitive. Fresno State had 177 total yards to UCLA’s 160. But UCLA had seven penalties for 73 yards already and Thompson-Robinson was only five of 11 for 86 yards. And the Bruins 160 yards was deceptive. There was nothing resembling a sustained offensive drive in the half.
UCLA closed the gap early in the third quarter, again not with its own offensive prowess, but thanks to a Fresno State turnover. The Bulldogs fumbled a UCLA punt at the Bruins 19-yard line. Four plays later Bolu Olorunfunmi had a two-yard touchdown run and the Bruins were within 16-14. The Bruins had two touchdowns off Fresno State turnovers. For as sporadically as UCLA was playing, they were not in a position to look any gift points in the mouth.
Self-Inflicted Wounds
Later in the quarter, UCLA’s defense stopped the Bulldogs on downs. But then Quentin Lake was called for roughing the passer and the Bruins’ momentum was again killed by its own doing. McMaryion would score on a one-yard touchdown run two plays later. The Bulldogs would add a 2-point conversion and it was 24-14. There was no sign the Bruins had enough offense to overcome that nor enough ability to get out of its own way.
On the next possession, Thompson-Robinson took off for 12-yards. A defensive holding penalty added 10-yards and put the ball near midfield. But on the next play, Thompson-Robinson’s pass intended for Howard was tipped and intercepted. Momentum killed. McMaryion would turn it into a one-yard touchdown run and 31-14 Fresno State lead. At that point, with 3:43 left in the third quarter, many of the Bruin faithful had seen all they could handle and started heading for the exits.
By the time Thompson-Robinson completed a late fourth quarter pass to Chase Cota, which he promptly fumbled away to Fresno State, the remaining UCLA fans numbered in the hundreds, while thousands of Fresno State fans celebrated in the general admission seats with the Bulldogs band.
Fresno State had 420 yards of total offense, aided considerably by UCLA’s four turnovers. The Bruins managed only 270. That begs the question, where is the UCLA offense?
Thompson-Robinson was a poor 10 of 24 passing for 151 yards and the one touchdown. He had two interceptions, both of which were tipped passes. The passing game was highly ineffective. When Thompson-Robinson was accurate, his passes were lazer-like. But when he missed, he wasn’t close to the receivers. He was also the leading rusher, (including four running backs) with 49 yards. That is never going to be a sign of strong offense.
Offense?
“I don’t think we got into any good rhythm on the offensive side of the ball, and there’s a lot to it,” Kelly said after the game. “What did we do wrong and how do we improve upon that and learn from it and grow?” It’s not that Kelly was not willing to take limited risks. He went for it on fourth down three times. That is the high wire act UCLA fans expected. But twice on fourth and short Thompson-Robinson went under center, (the only times he did all game), signaling the run up the middle that was coming. If the offensive line could get any push, Kelly is applauded for being bold. Since the line has shown little ability to do it consistently that, the plays failed.
There is some early grumbling from UCLA fans who did not see this coming when Kelly was hired. Kelly, for his part, is not in the category of fazed by the developments. Postgame, one word was consistently used by he and his players; process. From Theo Howard, “We have new faces on the line. We have true freshmen at receiver and the running back spot. Obviously, Dorian is new. Everybody is getting used to each other. It’s a process, but we’ll get there.”
From Kelly, “It’s what our whole process is. How do we continue to grow and get better? There are some phases where we are getting better and there are obviously some phases where we aren’t.”
UCLA has a week off to figure out the process. They open the conference season at Colorado in two weeks.
