College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the UCLA Bruins season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– UCLA Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 4-8 overall, 4-5 in Pac-12
Head Coach: Chip Kelly, 3rd year, 7-17
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 51
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 97
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 34
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Offense 3 Things To Know
– Eventually this offense is going to work … right? After all, it’s Chip Kelly, offensive coordinator Justin Frye also works with the O line, and the youth movement from the last few years might finally start to pay off.
The Bruins averaged over 400 yards per game, but they only managed to come up with more than 18 points six times. There were major power outages, way too many turnovers, and lousy pass protection that didn’t help the overall cause – the Bruins were 120th in the nation in sacks allowed.
CFN in 60 Video: UCLA Bruins Preview
Start there. Kelly and Frye inherited a bad offensive line situation, and they haven’t been able to make it a whole lot stronger. By the end of last year they started two freshmen and one sophomore, and now they get three starters back – Murray, the then-sophomore, has transferred to Oklahoma – who should know what they’re doing.
– Finally, the backfield might just be good enough to do some steady damage. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson is in his third year, and while it’s been rocky, he has had his moments. the 507-yard, five touchdown day against Washington State was fantastic – but just not enough of them.
He threw for over 2,700 yards with 21 touchdowns and 12 picks, but he’ll be pushed hard by former Washington transfer Colson Yankoff, a 6-4 former star recruit who can run. Also potentially in the mix is one of the team’s top recruits, Parker McQuarrie out of New Hampshire – a 6-7, 208-pound pro-style bomber who might just be thrown to the wolves right away.
RB Joshua Kelley is off being a Los Angeles Charger, but Demetric Felton is a veteran who finished second on the team with 331 yards. Martell Irby is a smallish quick back who fits the system, and in comes Brittain Brown from Duke, a bigger back who can do a little of everything.
– Tight end Devin Asiasi took off and now he’s a New England Patriot, but the top four other targets are back. Leading receiver Kyle Philips is back after catching 60 passes for 681 yards and five scores – he has high-volume potential – and 6-4 junior Chase Cota is a big target on the outside.
The depth took a hit, though, with three tight ends transferring and WR Theo Howard leaving for Oklahoma. Even so, there are enough decent parts to start doing more for the passing game.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Defense 3 Things To Know
– The nation’s 113th-ranked defense – and the second least-efficient pass defense in the country – loses three of its top four tacklers, but it gets back ten of its top 13. If the goal was to build things up to get to a better place, this needs to be it – except in the linebacking corps.
Those three lost tacklers were all linebackers, with only 225-pound senior Leni Toailoa back on the outside. There’s some bulk in the group – 230-pound Bo Calvert needs to be a factor in the middle – and there’s a good-sized talent coming in the recruiting class. The young depth, though, is an issue with five guys leaving through the transfer portal.
– The secondary that got torched for 311 yards per game is at least experienced. CB Darnay Holmes was drafted in fourth round by the New York Giants, but the other three starters and their backups were underclassmen, and junior Jay Shaw is likely to take over the open spot after making 30 tackles and a pick.
Junior Stephan Blaylock returns at one safety job after leading the team with 86 tackles and the combination of Elisha Guidry and Quentin Lake will be factors at the other safety jobs.
Helping the overall cause will be two transfers, Obi Eboh coming in from Stanford at corner. and Qwuantrezz Knight looking to see time at safety after making 74 tackles with 10.5 tackles for loss for Kent State last season.
– The defensive line should be the best in the Chip Kelly era. At the very least, it’s the most experienced and has the most potential. The tackle combination of juniors Otito Ogbonnia and Tyler Manoa are over 300 pounds, and 280-pound DE Osa Odighizuwa tied for the team lead in tackles for loss.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top UCLA Bruins Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top UCLA Bruins Players
Best UCLA Bruins Offensive Player
WR Kyle Philips, Soph.
The team needs one of the quarterback options to become the team’s best player, but that’s going to be an ongoing fight. The receiving corps should be a plus if the quarterback play is fine, and it starts with Philips being the go-to guy after leading the team with 60 catches for 681 yards and five scores.
A strong recruit for the program with good quickness and decent consistency, he might not make a ton of deep plays, but he’ll be dangerous with the ball in his hands as both a receiver and a punt returner.
2. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jr.
3. RB Demetric Felton, Sr.
4. QB Colson Yankoff, Soph.
5. OT Sean Rhyan, Soph.
Best UCLA Bruins Defensive Player
DE/DT Osa Odighizuwa, Sr.
Part 3-4 end, part 4-3 tackle, the 6-2, 279-pound senior put together a decent first three seasons as a part of a line that doesn’t get behind into the backfield enough. He’s been one of the team’s most active defenders, and he was the team’s best player behind the line with 3.5 sacks and ten tackles for loss. Decent against the run no matter where he played, he was also fifth on the team with 46 stops.
2. S Stephan Blaylock, Jr.
3. DT Tyler Manoa, Jr.
4. LB Leni Toailoa, Sr.
5. DT Otito Ogbonnia, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The UCLA Bruins Offense
The pass protection and the offensive line must be stronger. Both starting tackles are back, the decision-making should be a bit better no matter who’s at quarterback, and the rotation at running back should be fine even without Joshua Kelley.
While the Chip Kelly offense can crank up the plays and the tempo from time to time, it was often at its best when it was able to line up and blast away. The ground attack had a five-game run of 200 yards, but it didn’t get there in the first four game or the last three.
For an offense that’s supposed to move with pace, allowing over three sacks and seven tackles for loss per game are too many. However, it really is all about that ground game.
Getting to 200 yards doesn’t make anything a lock under Kelly, but the Bruins are 5-2 over the last two seasons when they hit the mark, and they’re 2-15 when they don’t.
Biggest Key To The UCLA Bruins Defense
The pass defense has to eventually do more. The pass rush wasn’t all that bad, and the pressure was there at times, but the defensive backs couldn’t make enough plays.
They struggled to get off the field, they picked off a mere five passes – actually, the DBs only picked off three of the five – and they got ripped to shreds for 230 yards or more in every game but two – the win over Stanford and the win over Colorado.
To be fair, getting bombed on by Washington State’s Anthony Gordon for 570 yards and nine touchdowns – winning that one, by the way – and by USC’s Kedon Slovis for 515 yards and four scores sort of skewed the stats, but there were way, way too many big plays allowed all year long.
Again, to give UCLA a bit of a break, playing in the Pac-12 didn’t help, and facing Oklahoma was a problem for just about everyone, but San Diego freaking State – who averaged a season-high 9.5 yards per throw against this D – was able to hit just about everything.
And that’s why …
Key UCLA Bruins Player To A Successful Season
CB Rayshad Williams, Soph.
A decent tackler, the 6-2, 183-pounder came up with 33 tackles – 30 of them solo – but he didn’t pick off a pass and only broke up three. However, as one of the team’s most experienced corners, he has to be the guy now that Darnay Holmes is gone.
He has the size, and he can get physical, but now he has to scare anyone who wants to throw his way. He has to help change around the pass defense that’s been missing over the last two years.
Key Game To The UCLA Bruins Season
at San Diego State, Sept. 19
Seriously, UCLA, enough with losing to the Group of Five programs, even if they’re good ones.
When was the last time the program started out 3-0? 2015. When was the last time the program didn’t start out 0-3? Before Chip Kelly took over.
Try this. When was the last time the program beat a Group of Five team? Hawaii on September 9th, 2017.
UCLA lost the following week to Memphis. It lost to Cincinnati in each of the last two seasons, it lost to Fresno State in 2018, and it lost to San Diego State 23-14 last year.
UCLA won’t lose to New Mexico State to open up the season. It probably won’t lose at Hawaii, but that’s hardly a given. Even so, assume a 2-0 start. With a week off to get ready, there’s no reason the Bruins can’t handle the trip a few hours down the road against Brady Hoke’s Aztecs.
– UCLA Bruins Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 UCLA Fun Stats
– 4th Quarter Scoring: Opponents 115 – UCLA 57
– Punt Return Average: UCLA 22.5 – Opponents 10.6
– Average Yards Per Pass: Opponents 9.2 – UCLA 7.2
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: UCLA Bruins Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
CFN in 60 Video: UCLA Bruins Preview
OH COME ON, UCLA.
You’re UCLA. You have Chip Kelly. You have a gorgeous campus with even more beautiful weather at one of the coolest schools in the world.
Playing at the Rose Bowl isn’t totally ideal in a lot of ways, but it’s still the Rose Bowl – it’s still a selling point.
So why isn’t this working at all? Why can’t this just be a normal, functioning Power Five college football program that goes into every season assured of eight wins and a nice bowl game, and with a reasonable shot to do a whole lot more?
The worst part about this first-time-ever for UCLA run of four straight losing seasons – however, it happened from 1919 to 1924 when the school was known as the Southern Branch of the University of California – is that the program totally blew it.
The Pac-12 South has been there for the taking. USC has been down, the Arizona schools have been no big whoop, and Colorado has been Colorado. There was a void, and Utah filled it.
But in the third year under Kelly, he must have the pieces in place, right? This thing has finally got to work, but …
Where are the stars?
Where are the players?
There are a whole lot of decent veterans, and there’s a lot of young potential that should hopefully shine through, but years of recruit-to-a-type classes – a nice way of saying the recruiting classes were a big bag of meh – now puts the pressure all on Kelly to make this program fly.
Set The UCLA Bruins Regular Season Win Total At … 6.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 5.5
There’s NO excuse this year schedule-wise.
The team might be just okay, but if that offense that showed up during the middle of last season on can be more consistent, and the pass defense can come up with an interception once in a while, the wins are there on this slate.
If you could miss two Pac-12 teams this year, who would they be? USC would be one, but it’s in the South – so go with Oregon and Washington, and the Bruins don’t have to deal with either one.
As stated earlier, enough with the losing to Group of Five programs. There’s no Oklahoma on the slate like there was over the last two years, and there’s no Cincinnati, either. Beat New Mexico State, beat Hawaii, beat San Diego State.
After that, three of the first four Pac-12 games are against teams that didn’t go bowling, and there are still dates with Oregon State and Washington State ahead.
Enough is enough. Win all three non-conference games, win four Pac-12 games again, and finally go bowling and get this thing going already.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
