My Prediction

[EZ-E]

Bored out of my mind on my day off. I have been sitting at home all day as I got everything I needed to get done today fairly quickly. So I decided to watch some of the tape from last year's UCLA game, UCLA vs Nevada, read about the basic principles of Mazzone's offense, and read about our basic concepts on defense. Basically, I have done very little all day and I have nothing better to do. So here it goes.

 

Here is why I like us to win this game.

 

Match-Ups

Their OL vs our DL

They are young. Not as young as we are, but they are also fairly inexperienced. They go (from right to left) Sophomore, Freshman, Sophomore,Junior,Sophomore. We have a lot of inexperience on our DL I get that, but it isn't like we are playing a team full of pro-bowlers.

 

Their WR/Hundley vs our Secondary

Watching him last year and this year, I think that Hundley makes a lot of predetermined throws. He runs the zone read very well, but make no mistakes, he will have to go through a ton of his progressions to make plays against us. Against Nevada he was playing catch with his primary WR all game long and when the primary guy wasn't there, he'd either leave the pocket, or it would end up in the bleachers. They have some guys that we are going to have to play very well against to contain, but it will not be completely impossible. What we need to also do, is hit Hundley. Every chance we get you hit him. By the time the 3rd quarter runs around his legs are going to be too heavy to be very quick.

 

Our OL vs Their DL + Barr

We are very experienced up front and I don't think anyone would argue that point. We are really going to have to identify Anthony Barr much like we did last year in the bowl game against Georgia. We didn't do out of this world great against Georgia, but there were more than one series where we tossed them around up front and that is a defense with much more NFL talent on it than UCLA. We have the exact same guys that did that plus more depth. We will have to play very well to beat them in this area, but they wont be anything we haven't seen before.

 

Our WRs vs Their Secondary

Ill go out and say it now, our starting three WRs will all be on an NFL roster when they are done at NU. Their guys in the secondary are brand new. That is kind of an open and shut case. As long as we take care of the football we should have zero problem throwing it around the yard tomorrow.

 

Coaching Staff vs Coaching Staff

 

Last year, you saw Mora and Mazzone use a lot of motion from the RB pre-snap and in the first half we were in man-to-man a lot. This put Will Compton or Alonzo Whaley on a slot WR or a RB. It also took one more guy out of the box and away from the football which opens up that middle zone read. So then you are playing virtually 5 on 5 and everyone knows how the zone read works where the DE is basically irrelevant. But the biggest thing that Mora wanted to do with that is to open up the middle of the field for them to hit their big TE or WR on a crossing route and get us into a situation where we had to either help up with a safety to make a tackle, or take away the crossing pattern. Once we were worried about the middle of the field, they were very successful using that pick play that we started to use last season. And I think everyone knows what happened with that in the first half.

 

In the second half, and I am going to say this in all seriousness, Bo and staff absolutely kicked their asses with some of the adjustments made. Watching and trying to figure out what we were doing defensively from my very limited football knowledge is absolutely impossible. Mora and Mazzone couldn't figure it out either. It almost looked like some sort of match-up zone but it also looked like we anticipated when they would motion and had very specific ideas on how to go about neutralizing it. We mixed up where we were bringing pressure from, but we also mixed up the timing, and down and distance of the blitzes we were running.

 

The thing last year against UCLA that made Bo Pelini look a ton dumber than he should is our missed tackles. Honestly even if we make a handful of plays that we absolutely should have last year in the second half, Jonathon Franklin has about 80 less yards than he did. We didn't have to make Lavonte David-esque plays last year to be effective in this game at LB we just had to make the plays required of CFB players!!!!!!!!!

 

Tim Beck, and I seldom use this term, but he went Full-Watson in this game last year. Absolutely to the T went Full-Watson. Do you realize we ran less in this game last year than in any other game? Granted, Burkhead was out, but dear Lord. A zone-read from our own endzone? That is just one example, but we have no excuses for how terribly we played in the second half in every aspect of that game offensively. This is a match-up we need to circle and its Tim Beck redeeming himself vs UCLA.

 

 

 

The more I am looking into this game I really like our chances guys. If our guys go out and make the plays required of them defensively we will be fine. Be smart with the football and we win this football game. Those are the simplified keys to the game 1) Dont turn the ball over 2) Make tackles. You do those two things and we win this football game.

 

NU-44

 

UCLA-28

 

 

LET THE KOOLAID FLOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ulty]

[Redux]

Love everything about this

[Paul in WI]

I agree with you, Eze. I'll even go as far as saying that we're due to dispense a really good beat down on a "quality" opponent. I believe that this is going to be a good Saturday to be a Husker.

[EZ-E]

had to edit the first part guys. sorry this stemmed from a thought I had directed at a UCLA poster and the first part of it didnt make sense. fixed it.

[Hunter94]

if we avoid turnovers and poor defensive play, we will have a chance.....if we lose this game there will be hell to pay.

[Chaddyboxer]

+1's up in this muthaaa!!!

 

 

 

 

 

[Ziebol]

Comes down to not making bone head plays and getting Hundley uncomfortable. Can our young defense do this? Sure as hell hope so or tomorrow will be a long day. Offense needs to have their defense gassed by 3rd quarter.

[Minnesota_husker]

Solid takes.

 

The biggest change is linebackers. I am not saying our LB crew is better than last year because we just dont know.. but the biggest downfall with last years team was the speed issue. Whaley/Compton/Fisher were so slow that Hundley/Franklin ran right by them.

 

We have speed. And i think we have a few DL that can actually do what we need: VV=take up space, clog up the middle of the field and Gregory=get outside pressure that forces BH in to the clogged up middle.

 

 

We got beat by a shifty QB in week one, so the most important thing we probably did this week was watch that game tape and figure out how to fix it. BH is a better athletic than smith.... has better talent around him... This thing will be hideous if we play like we did week one.

[teachercd]

Many people seem to think last years game was some blowout. It was not. NU squandered more chances that pretty much my buddy in our frat a long time ago.

[HuskerFowler]

Good take. I agree I think we handle them quite well.

 

Just got tix south EZ row 8 sec 16!!!

I've never attended a loss at Memorial stadium!! But have been to the two biggest comebacks in stadium history.

 

And yes im going to wear black

[benedictbruin]

Offense needs to have their defense gassed by 3rd quarter.

Don't think that's going to happen...we are pretty deep in D talent, and constantly rotate bodies. This game can't get here fast enough! Can't wait!

[gefiltepez]

Nice post. Well reasoned and supported. Love this kind of analysis. My day has been completely useless as well. Can't wait for my Bruins to face off against you guys again. Always love interacting with Husker fans, you guys are among the classiest and most knowledgeable in the business.

 

After reading your post, it's pretty well researched, but there are some counterpoints that I'd make, and I'd love to get your take.

 

Bored out of my mind on my day off. I have been sitting at home all day as I got everything I needed to get done today fairly quickly. So I decided to watch some of the tape from last year's UCLA game, UCLA vs Nevada, read about the basic principles of Mazzone's offense, and read about our basic concepts on defense. Basically, I have done very little all day and I have nothing better to do. So here it goes.

 

Here is why I like us to win this game.

 

Match-Ups

Their OL vs our DL

They are young. Not as young as we are, but they are also fairly inexperienced. They go (from right to left) Sophomore, Freshman, Sophomore,Junior,Sophomore. We have a lot of inexperience on our DL I get that, but it isn't like we are playing a team full of pro-bowlers.

 

I don't know that I would say the UCLA line is all that inexperienced. First, 4 of our 5 linemen are returning starters, which means that they ave 15 games worth of experience playing together - cohesiveness cannot be underrated with respect to offensive line production, in my opinion. the 3 sophomores each have 15 games of starting experience, and the center, Jake Brendel, was named first-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News, second-team Freshman All-America by collegefootballnews.com, and honorable mention all-conference. Our right guard, Xavier Sua-Filo, is a third year starter and is a complete mauler - first team all pac-12 last season, and selected to numerous All-American lists. The lone freshman of the starting unit, Alex Redmond, had arguably the best game of the entire unit against Nevada in game 1 - watch for him and Sua-Filo pulling on running plays.

 

Their WR/Hundley vs our Secondary

Watching him last year and this year, I think that Hundley makes a lot of predetermined throws. He runs the zone read very well, but make no mistakes, he will have to go through a ton of his progressions to make plays against us. Against Nevada he was playing catch with his primary WR all game long and when the primary guy wasn't there, he'd either leave the pocket, or it would end up in the bleachers. They have some guys that we are going to have to play very well against to contain, but it will not be completely impossible. What we need to also do, is hit Hundley. Every chance we get you hit him. By the time the 3rd quarter runs around his legs are going to be too heavy to be very quick.

 

Hundley definitely locked on to a lot of receivers last year, but to be fair, he was a freshman, and let's be honest, it worked out pretty well for him. He's improved in that regard this year. That being said, In the Nevada game, he didn't have to look past his primary read very often...which brings me to the UCLA receivers. Each of our first 4 receivers are future NFL draftees. Shaq Evans is an uinderrated athlete, runs the best routes on the team, and catches everything. Devin Fuller is a slot receiver with elite burst and quickness. He has taken over the spot vacated by Fauria in a sense - gashing the defense over the middle. Where Fauria was a matchup nightmare due to his size, Fuller is a matchup nigthmare due to his quickness. UCLA will look to get him matched up on a linebacker as often as possible; if that happens, it's 8+ yards every time. Jordan Payton is a huge possession type with deceptive quickness; Stanley Jean-Baptiste would be the guy to matchup with Payton because anyone smaller is going to have a helluva time trying to defend Payton on those 8-15 yard curls, ins and outs. Finally, Devin Lucien is an athletic deep threat with ridiculous leaping ability and body control. If he's singled up on a DB with the ball in the air he's going to win that battle the majority of the time.

 

Our OL vs Their DL + Barr

We are very experienced up front and I don't think anyone would argue that point. We are really going to have to identify Anthony Barr much like we did last year in the bowl game against Georgia. We didn't do out of this world great against Georgia, but there were more than one series where we tossed them around up front and that is a defense with much more NFL talent on it than UCLA. We have the exact same guys that did that plus more depth. We will have to play very well to beat them in this area, but they wont be anything we haven't seen before.

 

You're gonna call me a homer, and that's fine, but UCLA's front 7 is as talented as Georgia's was last year. Obviously we all know Barr. Barr is a better athlete than Jarvis Jones and was just as productive last season - his first at linebacker. Eric Kendricks led the Pac-12 in tackles last year at middle linebacker and will be an all-pac-12 this season after being honorable mention last year. A future high round pick for sure. Senior Jordan Zumwalt will be an all-conference player and is a projected mid-round draftee in the 2014 draft.

 

In addition to the above, remember the following two names - Kenny Orjioke, and in particular freshman Myles Jack. Orjioke is an explosive physical specimen in the Annthony Barr mold. He entered UCLA as a 17 year old, 6'4" 210 pound frosh, and has bulked up to lean 240 pounds as a sophomore. Jack, especially, is a freak athlete; at 6'2" 235, he finished 2nd in the 200 meter and 3rd in the 400 meter at the Washington State track and field championships last year, and is probably the most athletic linebacker on the UCLA roster, Anthony Barr included.

 

On the D-line the bruins go 3 -deep at nose tackle. Senior Seali'i Epanesa is a space eater and extremely experienced. Sophomore Ellis McCarthy is a former 5-star recruit who has the size to bull rush and quickness to out-quick all but the best interior linemen. Senior Cassius Marsh has 26 starts in his career and was all Pac-12 honorable mention last season, posting 10.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks. At left defensive end is Keenan Graham, a fifth year senior who is a bit undersized in the 3-4 scheme at only 250 pounds, but is lightning quick and plays 100% all the time. Backing him up is much chronicled freshman defensive end/tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, who Scout.com scout Greg BIggins called the best defensive line prospect he's seen on the West Coast in a decade - and looked every bit the part in his first live action after sitting out much of fall camp with a back injury.

 

 

Our WRs vs Their Secondary

Ill go out and say it now, our starting three WRs will all be on an NFL roster when they are done at NU. Their guys in the secondary are brand new. That is kind of an open and shut case. As long as we take care of the football we should have zero problem throwing it around the yard tomorrow.

 

No arguments here. We are very young and inexperienced in the secondary. We will need our front 7 to get consistent pressure on Martinez to take the pressure off them. I will say though, that they are extremely athletic and talented if raw. The 2-deep boasts 5 former scout.com 4-star recruits and 1 5-star.

 

Coaching Staff vs Coaching Staff

 

Last year, you saw Mora and Mazzone use a lot of motion from the RB pre-snap and in the first half we were in man-to-man a lot. This put Will Compton or Alonzo Whaley on a slot WR or a RB. It also took one more guy out of the box and away from the football which opens up that middle zone read. So then you are playing virtually 5 on 5 and everyone knows how the zone read works where the DE is basically irrelevant. But the biggest thing that Mora wanted to do with that is to open up the middle of the field for them to hit their big TE or WR on a crossing route and get us into a situation where we had to either help up with a safety to make a tackle, or take away the crossing pattern. Once we were worried about the middle of the field, they were very successful using that pick play that we started to use last season. And I think everyone knows what happened with that in the first half.

 

In the second half, and I am going to say this in all seriousness, Bo and staff absolutely kicked their asses with some of the adjustments made. Watching and trying to figure out what we were doing defensively from my very limited football knowledge is absolutely impossible. Mora and Mazzone couldn't figure it out either. It almost looked like some sort of match-up zone but it also looked like we anticipated when they would motion and had very specific ideas on how to go about neutralizing it. We mixed up where we were bringing pressure from, but we also mixed up the timing, and down and distance of the blitzes we were running.

 

I don't think you can say that "Bo and staff absolutely kicked their asses" when the Huskers surrendered 280 yards in the second half.

 

The thing last year against UCLA that made Bo Pelini look a ton dumber than he should is our missed tackles. Honestly even if we make a handful of plays that we absolutely should have last year in the second half, Jonathon Franklin has about 80 less yards than he did. We didn't have to make Lavonte David-esque plays last year to be effective in this game at LB we just had to make the plays required of CFB players!!!!!!!!!

 

Tim Beck, and I seldom use this term, but he went Full-Watson in this game last year. Absolutely to the T went Full-Watson. Do you realize we ran less in this game last year than in any other game? Granted, Burkhead was out, but dear Lord. A zone-read from our own endzone? That is just one example, but we have no excuses for how terribly we played in the second half in every aspect of that game offensively. This is a match-up we need to circle and its Tim Beck redeeming himself vs UCLA.

 

 

 

The more I am looking into this game I really like our chances guys. If our guys go out and make the plays required of them defensively we will be fine. Be smart with the football and we win this football game. Those are the simplified keys to the game 1) Dont turn the ball over 2) Make tackles. You do those two things and we win this football game.

 

I have no prediction here. I think it will be a tough game both ways. I will say though, that there's no way UCLA is held under 30 points. Here's to a great game tomorrow!

 

NU-44

 

UCLA-28

 

 

LET THE KOOLAID FLOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[HuskerNationNick]

The only way we lose this game, is if we beat ourselves, just like any other game on the schedule (as well as last year). Wrap up your opponent and make the tackle. Enough of the whiffing, enough of mental errors, and enough turnovers. Turnovers really haven't been an issue with our starting core, but its always something that is in the back of every fan's mind. All the defense has to do, is make tackles and do their job on coverages. Bandares, Gerry, Gregory, Baptist and Evans should be lock down guys. I wish we could get more out of Ankrah, but I think he will start to be a legitimate threat on the edge as the season goes on. With the OL of UCLA, he should have a good game. Our Safety play has to be good as well. Doesn't have to be perfect or stout, just decent to say the least.

[BigRedBuster]

Love the back and forth analyses.

 

Ready for tomorrow. It's going up be fun. This is what college football is all about.