Football Monday – Sept. 8, 2014

Every UCLA football Saturday has so much more to it than a win or a loss. That’s why each postgame Monday, the Daily Bruin will break down the Bruins’ most recent game, outlining the good, the bad and the verdict for their performance.

This week, we take a closer look at UCLA’s 42-35 win over Memphis on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

The Good: The Passing Game

At times, it was as simple as pass-and-catch between redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley and his receivers. They were open, and unlike last week, Hundley had the necessary time and space to stand in the pocket to deliver strikes.

There was the 62-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Kenneth Walker, who never had to break stride on the over-the-top, picture-perfect pass. And there were the countless midrange throws, four going to sophomore Y-receiver Thomas Duarte, whose long runs made them even larger gains.

In between and throughout, there were short screen passes, slants and curl routes, all doing damage to the Memphis defense.

By game’s end, UCLA dented the Memphis defense for 396 yards passing, and had it not been for a few more drops, UCLA likely could have topped 450. Hundley also tied a single-game UCLA record for completions with 33.

The Bad: The Defense

Where to start?

The list is long, like once-a-month-grocery-shopping long. For UCLA, there was poor tackling, bad secondary coverage, bad scheming, etc.

For as good as UCLA’s defense looked against Virginia, it looked just as bad versus Memphis, allowing 469 yards total, 305 of which were through the air.

During fall camp, the secondary, led by junior cornerback Fabian Moreau, gave the appearance it could very well be UCLA’s best position group. On Saturday, they looked like the worst, being beaten multiple times, and sometimes quite easily.

Often too, the Tigers ran the ball to the outside, where the Bruins’ arm tackles proved not much more than a flimsy obstacle to shed and move past, if that.

Schematically, as coach Jim Mora pointed out, Memphis’ “unorthodox” option offense gave UCLA fits, and the Bruins struggled to adjust.

Though UCLA did manage to get one sack – its first and only of the season – in Saturday’s game, tack on its lack of pass pressure to the list of concerns going forward.

Verdict: Expectations Are Too High

During the fourth quarter, after a Memphis pick-six knotted the game at 35-all, the Bruin faithful at the Rose Bowl began to shower their boos. Granted, UCLA was playing bad, but bad relative to outside expectations, some of which predicted UCLA would make the inaugural college football playoff this year.

Right now, through two games, UCLA appears nowhere near that standard. So it’s time for expectations to simmer, at least for now.

This UCLA team needs to prove it’s worthy of such expectations before being burdened with them.

Player of the Game: Sophomore Y-receiver Thomas Duarte

Four catches aren’t a whole lot, but they were enough for Duarte to nab 110 yards receiving, including a 52-yard reception, and two touchdowns – a career day for him.

Many of the UCLA offense’s big plays seemed to come from a similar scene: Duarte finding his way into the holes of the Memphis defense and puncturing them for long gains, the last of which – a 33-yard, go-ahead touchdown catch with 10:52 remaining – turned into the knockout blow.

“Definitely,” Duarte said when asked if all his work in the offseason was evident on Saturday. “Especially the little things out there, kind of like technique, being patient on your routes and stuff like that, you notice it.”

Quote of the Week: Sophomore Y-receiver Thomas Duarte on his career game:

“It felt like a dream … everything just felt right.”

Compiled by Chris Kalra, Bruin Sports senior staff