UCLA Football: How Bruins Are Using Expediency To Their Advantage
Though clock control has been a very popular strategy to win a football game for decades now, the Bruins may have disproved that with their win on the road in week 2.
Taking on San Diego State as the visitors, UCLA may not have won the possession war, but as the scoreboard showed, such a philosophy might not matter in competition as much anymore.
SDSU controlled the clock for nearly two-thirds of the game through the first three quarters, racking up 28 minutes and 28 seconds of possession against UCLA’s 16 minutes and 32 seconds. But as the Aztecs dominated possession, the Bruins dominated the scoring, tallying five touchdowns against SDSU’s lone touchdown and field goal. Moore led the Bruins’ offense 85 yards downfield in seven plays – four completions, two incompletions and a scramble for a first down – in just 56 seconds. That drive was five seconds shorter than the three-play series that culminated in Harden’s 59-yard touchdown run. Tempo is nothing new to a Kelly-led offense, and this year’s iteration of UCLA is no different. Whether it’s a drive peaking with one big play or a seven-play and two-minute drill that finishes in the end zone, the Bruins’ offense is starting to show that it can drive down the field at will.
Hitting quick drives and scores to build an insurmountable lead the Aztecs couldn't rally back from, the Bruins reflected the mindset that Kelly has brought with him from Oregon to the NFL and now in LA.
Though clock control is quite valuable in a football game, such a strategy only works if you have a big lead and want to run the time down to triple zeroes.
As the Aztecs did not, UCLA simply took their points and the win with ease, a sign that they could continue rising the national ranks past just simply the fringes of the top 25.
