Notes:
Chris Murray starts at center for UCLA, but might move to guard for this game with Boss Tagaloa back from suspension. The move puts Texas Tech grad transfer Justin Murphy at tackle. He's longer than the guys they have now at tackle, but hasn't played there in a while. Murray, as you recall, was a big target of ours. Backup center Zach Sweeney medically retired so UCLA lost every recruit from their talented 2017 OL crop including their big catch, Kanan Ray, to CU of course. Their line woes make ours seem inconsequential.
UCLA starts former CU target Dymond Lee at WR. Only 5 catches for Dymond though. Highly touted receivers Chase Cota and Kyle Philips haven't made much of a dent either. Caleb Wilson hasn't been thrown to nearly as much this year so not sure what to make of UCLA's passing game. It basically doesn't exist despite all the blue chip and NFL type prospects. Just 1 TD among them. Ouch! Their transfer TE Asiasi (sp?) is eligible for this game so their depth chart will be a little better than it has been.
Match up of the game:
380# freshman NT Antonio Mafi vs. 285 pound freshman center Pursell. Yeah, we're giving up about 100 pounds in that one. His backup is 315# Ogbonnia. Going to be a busy day for Pursell. I hope he can handle him on his own and we don't have to give him a ton of help like we did at Nebraska. We will struggle to run the ball again if we have to give Pursell so much help because UCLA will probably shoot the gaps hard like NU did giving us little running room. Highly touted Tyler Manoa plays a ton in their 3-4 scheme as well.
In general, very young on the DL with 3 freshmen and a sophomore in the rotation. They will be trouble a year from now.
Also, former commit Mo Osling is playing a lot of safety for UCLA.
Seems like they are moving to freshmen Allen and Irby at running back over Jamabo and Olorunfunmi. Seems UCLA is destined to play a freshman at nearly every position on offense that they can shove one in. It's reminding me of CU in 2012 under Embree where we went full scorched earth and played a freshman nearly everywhere.
Not sure what to think of UCLA. Watching parts of that Fresno game was tough. They get after you defensively, but couldn't really get stops when they had to have them. The offense put the defense in such bad positions. It was just a mess quite honestly. Like Nebraska, they have a ton of 4* guys in the lineup and many of whom we've recruited, but they are not 4* players in reality. Many were just overrated recruits who have less ability than our guys rated much lower. Development hasn't been there and a star label put on a 16 year old by an adult watching film isn't going to matter much years later.
UCLA does look solid defensively at times when their offense isn't killing them. They have good speed and talent and that young DL is getting better. Their offense though can't really block anybody and they can't get the ball to their play makers. They rarely go deep and an aggressive scheme could stop them cold in their tracks so long as the tackling is good.
Outside of their TEs matched up against our guys, I don't see a lot of areas where UCLA has an advantage. There is no McKinley there to harass the QB. There is no superstar DT to cause major disruption. The scheme is a 3-4 which we are used to practicing against. Offensively, they have some speed at WR but don't throw deep. Their running backs are all highly rated but don't really scare anybody and haven't for years. Their OL might be the worst that we face. They are both too young and lack too much experience. This week, they are moving guys around to new spots to get the best combo in there with guys back from suspension. That will serve them well in a few games, but might be a recipe for disaster this Friday.
Alas though, like Mac2 said, lots of athletes on that field. More athletes than we've seen this year from any team including Nebraska. Very little depth though and while the 2 weeks should help them get things down, it will also help CU to get healthier and far more ready than they were in the first few weeks. Meaning, both teams will get a lot better over the bye.
Special teams wise, UCLA's punter has been outstanding and looks all league at this point. CU is using a backup kicker to punt so there's that.
So here is the match ups from my vantage point
CU OL vs. UCLA DL/OLB - Advantage CU
Just feel that Pursell will handle overweight freshman NT. After that, the other match ups look good for us.
UCLA OL vs. CU DL/OLB - Advantage Push
I want to see us dominate a little here before I'm comfortable saying advantage CU. UCLA's OL will be a bit patch work. This is a great time for CU to find their dominance and get after an OL. CU should win this match up.
CU WRs vs. UCLA DBs - Advantage CU.
I'm assuming Winfree is back. If that's the case, it's advantage CU. UCLA's DBs are good but they've given up too many passing yards. CU has 'Viska and Winfree and should win most 1 on 1 match ups.
UCLA WRs vs. CU DBs - Advantage Push
UCLA has a lot of blue chip talent here that just hasn't had their chances. QB play hasn't been very good and the WRs are just not getting the ball. They don't block particularly well either.
Unit by unit comparison
CU QB vs. UCLA QB - Advantage CU
Our QB is worlds better than anybody they will put out. This is our biggest advantage and even Chip knows this. For years, he has gone against us with QBs far superior to ours and finally we get to turn the tables.
CU RB vs. UCLA RB - Advantage CU
I don't know why some fans are sour on McMillian. He is a heck of a running back. He needs more carries to get himself square. I would bet money UCLA would love to have him. Travon was just starting to get it done against NU before injury and NU sold out so hard to stop the run and short passing game early that it wasn't the running backs faults. UCLA may have more depth here but CU is better.
CU ST vs. UCLA ST - Advantage Push
I think we have the better kicker if he's healthy, but UCLA has the much better punter. The return game is about the same for both. UCLA has good cover units but so does CU.
Overall, CU looks good in this match up. If we take care of the ball, tackle, and don't penalize ourselves to death, we stand a good chance in this one.
Chris Murray starts at center for UCLA, but might move to guard for this game with Boss Tagaloa back from suspension. The move puts Texas Tech grad transfer Justin Murphy at tackle. He's longer than the guys they have now at tackle, but hasn't played there in a while. Murray, as you recall, was a big target of ours. Backup center Zach Sweeney medically retired so UCLA lost every recruit from their talented 2017 OL crop including their big catch, Kanan Ray, to CU of course. Their line woes make ours seem inconsequential.
UCLA starts former CU target Dymond Lee at WR. Only 5 catches for Dymond though. Highly touted receivers Chase Cota and Kyle Philips haven't made much of a dent either. Caleb Wilson hasn't been thrown to nearly as much this year so not sure what to make of UCLA's passing game. It basically doesn't exist despite all the blue chip and NFL type prospects. Just 1 TD among them. Ouch! Their transfer TE Asiasi (sp?) is eligible for this game so their depth chart will be a little better than it has been.
Match up of the game:
380# freshman NT Antonio Mafi vs. 285 pound freshman center Pursell. Yeah, we're giving up about 100 pounds in that one. His backup is 315# Ogbonnia. Going to be a busy day for Pursell. I hope he can handle him on his own and we don't have to give him a ton of help like we did at Nebraska. We will struggle to run the ball again if we have to give Pursell so much help because UCLA will probably shoot the gaps hard like NU did giving us little running room. Highly touted Tyler Manoa plays a ton in their 3-4 scheme as well.
In general, very young on the DL with 3 freshmen and a sophomore in the rotation. They will be trouble a year from now.
Also, former commit Mo Osling is playing a lot of safety for UCLA.
Seems like they are moving to freshmen Allen and Irby at running back over Jamabo and Olorunfunmi. Seems UCLA is destined to play a freshman at nearly every position on offense that they can shove one in. It's reminding me of CU in 2012 under Embree where we went full scorched earth and played a freshman nearly everywhere.
Not sure what to think of UCLA. Watching parts of that Fresno game was tough. They get after you defensively, but couldn't really get stops when they had to have them. The offense put the defense in such bad positions. It was just a mess quite honestly. Like Nebraska, they have a ton of 4* guys in the lineup and many of whom we've recruited, but they are not 4* players in reality. Many were just overrated recruits who have less ability than our guys rated much lower. Development hasn't been there and a star label put on a 16 year old by an adult watching film isn't going to matter much years later.
UCLA does look solid defensively at times when their offense isn't killing them. They have good speed and talent and that young DL is getting better. Their offense though can't really block anybody and they can't get the ball to their play makers. They rarely go deep and an aggressive scheme could stop them cold in their tracks so long as the tackling is good.
Outside of their TEs matched up against our guys, I don't see a lot of areas where UCLA has an advantage. There is no McKinley there to harass the QB. There is no superstar DT to cause major disruption. The scheme is a 3-4 which we are used to practicing against. Offensively, they have some speed at WR but don't throw deep. Their running backs are all highly rated but don't really scare anybody and haven't for years. Their OL might be the worst that we face. They are both too young and lack too much experience. This week, they are moving guys around to new spots to get the best combo in there with guys back from suspension. That will serve them well in a few games, but might be a recipe for disaster this Friday.
Alas though, like Mac2 said, lots of athletes on that field. More athletes than we've seen this year from any team including Nebraska. Very little depth though and while the 2 weeks should help them get things down, it will also help CU to get healthier and far more ready than they were in the first few weeks. Meaning, both teams will get a lot better over the bye.
Special teams wise, UCLA's punter has been outstanding and looks all league at this point. CU is using a backup kicker to punt so there's that.
So here is the match ups from my vantage point
CU OL vs. UCLA DL/OLB - Advantage CU
Just feel that Pursell will handle overweight freshman NT. After that, the other match ups look good for us.
UCLA OL vs. CU DL/OLB - Advantage Push
I want to see us dominate a little here before I'm comfortable saying advantage CU. UCLA's OL will be a bit patch work. This is a great time for CU to find their dominance and get after an OL. CU should win this match up.
CU WRs vs. UCLA DBs - Advantage CU.
I'm assuming Winfree is back. If that's the case, it's advantage CU. UCLA's DBs are good but they've given up too many passing yards. CU has 'Viska and Winfree and should win most 1 on 1 match ups.
UCLA WRs vs. CU DBs - Advantage Push
UCLA has a lot of blue chip talent here that just hasn't had their chances. QB play hasn't been very good and the WRs are just not getting the ball. They don't block particularly well either.
Unit by unit comparison
CU QB vs. UCLA QB - Advantage CU
Our QB is worlds better than anybody they will put out. This is our biggest advantage and even Chip knows this. For years, he has gone against us with QBs far superior to ours and finally we get to turn the tables.
CU RB vs. UCLA RB - Advantage CU
I don't know why some fans are sour on McMillian. He is a heck of a running back. He needs more carries to get himself square. I would bet money UCLA would love to have him. Travon was just starting to get it done against NU before injury and NU sold out so hard to stop the run and short passing game early that it wasn't the running backs faults. UCLA may have more depth here but CU is better.
CU ST vs. UCLA ST - Advantage Push
I think we have the better kicker if he's healthy, but UCLA has the much better punter. The return game is about the same for both. UCLA has good cover units but so does CU.
Overall, CU looks good in this match up. If we take care of the ball, tackle, and don't penalize ourselves to death, we stand a good chance in this one.
