Got around to watching our FB in 60 vs OS - like I remembered, except it was CP3 who combined with Bishop in stopping Jack Colletto on 4th down after lining up as an undersized LB. What are the chances he watched film for the LB groups, too?
The PAC after Dark analysts looked forward to our second game in the Rose Bowl this year, and granted, they had a really long day and looked like they just wanted to find a couch off set, they pointed out UW’s defensive backfield is not up to the standard they’ve been in recent years, and DTR may find the going tougher vs us on Saturday (as they’d cued up a short vid of a UW DB falling down as the UCLA WR made an easy cut to the EZ for a beach-ball catch).
5-0 UCLA is at 18 in the AP and wants to move up. We’re the highest ranked team with a loss at 11. More importantly, both teams are 2-0 in league, and the game’s on FOX… just 6 years after Joe Williams ran a marathon at that storied stadium… on FOX.
Offensively…
Injuries aren’t a major factor, so far. We miss Kuithe, of course, but there’s ample reason to think Kincaid & Yassmin will rise to the occasion and add more kinetic energy to DBs trying to bring them down, and McClain probably wants to show Los Angeles he made a smart move in coming to SLC from USC.
But more than the TEs stepping up to replace their fallen leader, the WRs have really started becoming a threat. Vele jumps off the screen as a problem for opposing DCs, and Dixon emerged as a guy DBs will need to hold to keep within arms length downfield, not to mention a menace in the run game after he turns upfield on jet-sweeps. And we haven’t even really seen Parks yet, who is a clone of Dixon in the speed & quickest department. Money put in the work offseason & in camp, just hasn’t been featured yet. That might change this week. If Solo’s a quick healer, would be great to see him blasting guys with blocks and continuing his “forget me not” senior campaign.
Definitely time for a fresh look from the OL & the running game. Is this the game Tavion really breaks out? It’s time, but Bernard, Glover and Jackson have shown they can do much more than just carry the ball and get on the box score. Nobody expects another Joe Williams day - that won’t happen unless FB becomes flag FB - but getting the ground game really rolling is important, for this game & beyond.
On defense…
The DL will really be key to how well we handle DTR. Scalley showed we’ll go with a DE-DE-DL-DE-DE scheme up front vs the run-heavy Beavs, and it worked pretty well in limiting their well-blocked ground game.
The scheme against UCLA will be different, but hopefully the unknown nature of what’s in Morgan’s mind can make even the uber-veteran DTR think just a second longer than normal. We’ll see.
Their ground game is quite good, like usual. It’s assignment football and wrapping up. Man on man, do your job, shed blocks, make the tackle.
As usual, take away the run game, create havoc in the pass game, get pressure on, sure tackles and maybe even some INTs on the back end, and get off the field.
Summary - I expect UCLA will be primed to catapult us in the PAC talk this year. DTR has been there for 5 years, has seen everything. But like Whitt said post game, the goal is to get better every week, and if the Utes do that, I like our chances in Pasadena.
There are no rollover games in our league - ASU fought USC hard, Arizona’s playing better, Mike Sanford will remind CU they should play with pride… I feel really uneasy saying “oh yeah, we’ll roll XYZ team” in the PAC.
All that said, UCLA this year is a serious threat.
The Utes can get on the plane Saturday evening with another “W” if we play Utah football. Gotta go grab it, though.