UCLA Football Grounds and Pounds its Way Into Road Showdown Against Washington
The Bruins may be hopping on their team jet to get up to Seattle for the weekend, but once they get there, running could be their go-to mode of transportation.
UCLA football (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) is going to play its second-straight road game when it faces off against Washington (2-3, 1-1) in the heart of the Pacific Northwest on Saturday night. While the Bruins have gone .500 since starting the season 2-0, one thing has remained constant wherever they've gone – they run the ball, a lot.
In each of their first six games, UCLA has rushed the ball more than they've passed it, and they're averaging 43.5 attempts on the ground per game. The Bruins' 224.5 rushing yards per game ranks second in the Pac-12 and in the top 25 in the nation, and it all came to a head with their 329 rushing yards in their victory over Arizona in Week 6.
Coach Chip Kelly said running the ball against the Huskies will be far from a walk in Kerry Park, though, considering how disciplined and well-coached their defense is.
"Very rarely are they out of position," Kelly said. "When you look at the big play tape against their defense, there's not a lot of clips on them cause there aren't a lot of big plays. I think they're gonna make you go the distance."
Washington's defense has allowed 23 chunk plays – defined as runs that go for 15-plus yards or passes that go for 20-plus yards – for an average of 4.6 per game. Just looking at plays that go for 25 or more yards though, the Huskies have only given up six all year.
Their two Pac-12 opponents combined for two runs that went for longer than 20 yards, which are exactly the kind of plays UCLA has been relying on from running backs Brittain Brown and Zach Charbonnet this season.
Brown said the running backs have been studying those few big runs Washington has allowed this year, and that they may have to burst through the middle instead of busting it to the outside against a Husky team that likes to penetrate from the edges.
"We’ve just been watching the explosive runs," Brown said. "I know they like to blitz from the outside, so we’re just going to take advantage of the game plan and keep doing what we’ve been doing, really."
The gross stats tell a very different story, though.
Washington is allowing 179.6 rushing yards per game, which ranks No. 10 in the Pac-12 and No. 99 in the country. In their three games against Power Five opponents, that number jumps all the way up to 241.0 per game, including 343 against Michigan and 242 against Oregon State.
Kelly didn't much care about the stats, saying he's leaning more on the film analysis he and his staff have done to prepare for the game.
"Statistics can get you beat," Kelly said. "Turn the tape on – that's a really, really, really good defense. They're tough, they're physical, they get after you, I think they're really well-coached, so we've got our hands full with their defense in every facet, whether it's run or pass."
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has also been reviewing his Husky tape, and he has quite the group of study buddies by his side.
Ethan Garbers and Colson Yankoff both transferred from Washington to UCLA, and both quarterbacks actually had the Huskies' coaching staff block them from becoming immediately eligible to play for the Bruins. While Thompson-Robinson didn't say if there was any specific revenge plans being cooked up in the quarterbacks room, he got some solid information out of the former Huskies.
"I talked to Garbers about it a little bit and he's kind of giving me some tips and clues and stuff since he was on their scout team going against their 1s defense at his time there," Thompson-Robinson said.
The special insider tips could possibly help Thompson-Robinson cope with facing another complex defensive scheme, as Arizona defensive coordinator Don Brown's unit forced him to go just 1-of-8 with an interception in the first half against a week ago. Although he settled in and went 7-of-11 without a turnover in the second half, Thompson-Robinson said building momentum and getting into a rhythm throughout the game was important to his performance moving forward.
On the other side of the ball, Washington brings a revolving door of receivers and running backs to the table, with injuries, COVID cases and healthy scratches dominating their season thus far.
Quarterback Dylan Morris has been the lone constant, albeit one that has led Washington to the No. 10 team passer rating in the conference and No. 99 in the country. The offensive line, which entered the year experienced and poised to recreate their eye-popping 2020 campaign in which they only allowed two total sacks, stumbled out of the gates and is now allowing nearly three sacks per game.
Edge rusher Myles Jackson credited the Huskies' physicality up front, with all five starters boasting top-tier size even if their production hasn't matched it yet this fall.
"Washington's offense, up front, they're pretty tough and physical," Jackson said. "They're a tough team, just like us, so I feel like the coaches have given us a good game plan, put us in a position to execute."
Dropping back to pass may not be in either team's best interest, with the chances of rain that night now approaching 60% and temperatures set to drop into the low 50s. Adding in the fact that Washington draws the most fans in the Pac-12 with over 60,000 per home game so far this year, a wet, cold, rainy, loud night could place UCLA in several situations it hasn't faced this year all at once.
Kelly said the team would practice wet ball drills during the week, but in terms of the noise, Thompson-Robinson said there wasn't much he and his teammates could do to get ready before stepping foot in the stadium.
"I don't think there's really any way you can prepare for that," Thompson-Robsinson said. "They may turn the music up loud at practice or whatever, but we're not focused on that or anything like that. It gets pretty quiet when you're tuned in and locked into the game and your assignment, anyways. But it should be a fun atmosphere to play in."
Kickoff at Husky Stadium is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
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