Previewing Oregon's Schedule: UCLA

Oregon is coming off of a bye week after finally finding their groove against Oregon State en route to a 49-14 win. Some of the biggest improvements from the game were the offensive line, and the running game, which finally showed fans some of the potential the team has.

Now it’s time to look ahead to Oregon’s next opponent, UCLA, a matchup that will be the second road contest of the year for the Ducks.

UCLA has a first-year head coach in DeShaun Foster, who was a former running back for the Bruins and six-year NFL player. The Bruins got off to a rough start in Week 1 and narrowly escaped Hawaii on the road and only scored one touchdown against the Rainbow Warriors.

They then had a week off before hosting another first-year head coach in Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, which resulted in an embarrassing 42-13 loss. Following that loss UCLA flew to Baton Rouge where they lost to the LSU Tigers 34-17 in a game that they kept surprisingly close.

PFF Grades will be used along with stats coming from ESPN to help guide and get a grip on how certain players have looked thus far.

UCLA Depth Chart (2 Deep):

QB: Ethan Garbers / Justyn Martin

At this point Garbers certainly has a ceiling and I don’t believe that he can propel this Bruins team to beat Oregon. He has a bad TD/INT (3-4) ratio and hasn’t looked good so far.

RB: TJ Harden / Keegan Jones

FB: Anthony Adkins / Leo Kemp

I expected TJ Harden to have a pretty big year this season, but that couldn’t be further from the truth as he only has 72 yards on 2.6 yards per carry. Neither backup Keegan Jones nor Jalen Berger has been able to get many reps either despite both averaging over five yards per carry and it has led this UCLA squad to being one-dimensional.

TE: Moliki Matavao / Jack Pedersen

WR-X: J. Michael Sturdivant / Carter Shaw

WR-Z: Titus Mokiao-Atimalala / Kwazi Gilmer

Zebra (WR-Y): Rico Flores Jr / Logan Loya

Oregon sees former Oregon Duck Moliki Matavao yet again and he has had a solid season to this point but nothing that jumps out. I fully expected J. Michael Sturdivant to have a big season as well and that hasn’t happened so far either, as Notre Dame transfer Rico Flores Jr. has been the best wideout. Through four games for UCLA, this wide receiver corps only has three touchdowns.

Offensive Line

LT: Rueben Unije / Jaylan Jeffers

LG: Spencer Holstege / Yukata Mahe

C: Josh Carlin / Sam Yoon

RG: Alani Makihele / Tavake Tuikolovatu

RT: Garrett DiGiorgio / Niki Prongos

So far Rueben Unije has a bottom 50 grade in the country of qualifying offensive tackles, meaning he is playing very poorly. DiGiorgio has been better and has split time with Prongos, where both have been just around average.

At guard, Purdue transfer Spencer Holstege has been solid, and prior to the LSU game was clearly the best offensive lineman on the team. Meanwhile on the right side, Makihele has had an okay start to the year. Center Josh Carlin has been right around the middle of the pack as well. I expect the Oregon defensive line to have their way against UCLA and get a lot of pressures and sacks.

Defense

LE: Jacob Busic / Grant Buckey

NT: Jay Toia / Siale Taupaki

DT: Sitiveni Havili Kaufusi / AJ Fuimaono

RE: Devin Aupiu / Luke Schuermann

The defensive ends have a horrific rating on the season and between all four of the top defensive ends, they only have one sack. Both Busic and Aupiu rank among the nation’s bottom-50 defensive ends this season, which is something that should be exploited this coming week. Keanu Williams is now out for the season as announced by DeShaun Foster on Tuesday.

His backup has played poorly in his place, but next to him is one of the better nose tackles on the West Coast. Jay Toia may not be rated inside the top-100 for his position overall but he boasts a very impressive run defense score in the interior of this defense.

SAM: Kain Medrano / Jalen Woods

MIKE: Olawafemi Oladejo / Carson Schwesinger

WILL: Ale Kaho / Jon Jon Vaughs

The linebackers on this defense flash at you if you take a look at the box scores because of their high tackle numbers. Medrano, Oladejo, and Schwesigner are the Bruins top three tacklers on the season, but Medrano and Schwesigner aren’t graded highly, being around the middle of the pack or a bit lower.

Kain Medrano is a very good pass rush linebacker, while that is Schwesignger’s worst trait, but Medrano is a lower graded linebacker overall. Oladejo has a really bad grade so far this season and his best trait is his run defense. It’s worth noting the only player in this group with a sack is Ale Kaho.

It’s worth noting that due to the injuries up front, Oladejo has been playing for in a defensive end spot this season.

Nickel: KJ Wallace / DJ Justice

LCB: Devin Kirkwood / Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins

FS: Bryan Addison / Croix Stewart

BS: Ramon Henderson / Joshua Swift

RCB: Jaylin Davies / Kaylin Moore

Interestingly enough, the defensive backs have just as many sacks as the defensive line does with two total. Kaylin Moore has been very good thus far this season, while Davies, Kirkwood, and Wallace have all fallen well short of their expectations coming into the season. This group hasn’t shown the ability to cut off passing lanes and have only two interceptions on the year through four games. Bryan Addison is the second highest rated player in the secondary, while his safety counterpart Ramon Henderson has been off to a horrific start.

Reserve defensive back Kanye Clark was announced to be done for the season by DeShaun Foster on Tuesday, which is a blow to the depth for the Bruins.

My Takeaway

I think Oregon rolls in this game as UCLA really doesn’t have the talent and hasn’t been coached well enough to brew an upset here. My score prediction this week is 49-10, and I think Oregon is capable of scoring more than 49 and also capable of holding the bruins to less than 10.