The Eight-Clap: UCLA looks to halt UNLV momentum, offense in upcoming game

This is the first installment of The Eight-Clap, a rundown of eight midweek notes on UCLA football.

1. The health of Takkarist McKinley, who returned to practice this week after pulling his groin against Texas A&M, will go a long way in determining whether the Bruins achieve their stated goal of improving against the run this year.

The 6-foot-2, 265-pounder was monstrous against the run in limited action Saturday.

McKinley only played 13 snaps, and the Aggies only ran the ball on five of those, but he still piled up the second-highest run defense grade of any Bruin, according to Pro Football Focus.

Takk was monstrous in run D vs A&M. In just 5 snaps of run D, he posted UCLA’s 2nd-best run D grade per @PFF_College pic.twitter.com/H49knXpwep

— Matt Cummings (@mbcummings15) September 7, 2016

He recorded run stops on two of the five run plays the Aggies ran with him on the field. On those five plays, Texas A&M gained just nine yards. If you take away the 11 yards that came on a first-quarter reverse to receiver Christian Kirk, the Aggies averaged negative yardage on run plays with McKinley on the field.

2. Josh Rosen threw for 343 yards against the Texas A&M defense, which never allowed an opponent to pass for 300 yards last season. No opponent even reached 250 yards through the air against the Aggies in 2015.

3. Under coach Tony Sanchez, UNLV likes to start fast.

Every time they have won the coin toss under Sanchez, the Rebels have opted to take possession right away. In Sanchez’s 13 games at UNLV, they have received the opening kick 11 times and scored touchdowns on eight of those opening drives.

Against Jackson State last week, star receiver Devonte Boyd caught the first of his three touchdowns on the opening pass of quarterback Johnny Stanton IV’s UNLV career.

4. The most interesting matchup of the weekend will probably be Boyd against the Bruin secondary.

UCLA defensive coordinator Tom Bradley called Boyd one of the finest receivers his team faced last season.

With would-be starting receiver Kendal Keys out for the season and the guy starting in Keys’ place – Brandon Presley – out this week, the Rebels will start true freshman Mekhi Stevenson across from Boyd.

The Bruins thus can devote all their energy to stopping Boyd, though it’s not the easiest task.

Boyd made four catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns in the first half of last week’s 63-13 drubbing of Jackson State before sitting out the second half.

CBS Sports’ 24th-ranked wide receiver prospect for the 2017 draft, Boyd was named to the preseason watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, which honors the nation’s top receiver. Every preseason preview publication selected Boyd as a Preseason First Team All-Mountain West receiver.

The former two-star recruit led the nation in receiving yards among freshmen in 2014 with 980, earning a Freshman All-American nod from the FWAA. With another big year in 2015, Boyd posted more yards – 1,884 – through his sophomore season at UNLV than any receiver has compiled in his first two years as a Rebel.

5. Friday’s game in Long Beach between Las Vegas Bishop Gorman and Bellflower St. John Bosco features the nation’s top two high school teams, according to High School Football America.

The rankings said the same two years ago when Gorman, coached by now-UNLV coach Tony Sanchez, defeated Bosco, then quarterbacked by Josh Rosen.

Rosen passed for 244 yards and three touchdowns and nearly engineered a fourth-quarter comeback but fell just short as his team lost 34-31.

Gorman is still quarterbacked by five-star recruit Tate Martell, who threw for 230 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a sophomore dueling it out against Rosen.

6. Senior cornerback Torry McTyer looked strong in UNLV’s season opener. He was targeted 7 times and allowed just two catches, according to Pro Football Focus, while also intercepting a pass and bringing it in for a 43-yard pick-six. He recorded another two pass deflections.

7. Coach Jim Mora said Wednesday morning that redshirt freshman tight end Caleb Wilson would see more playing time at the expense of redshirt senior Nate Iese.

Iese played the bulk of the game against A&M, seeing more snaps than any Bruin outside of Rosen and the starting offensive linemen. He performed poorly, though, grading negatively in the passing game and very negatively as a run blocker, per Pro Football Focus. Wilson saw just 10 snaps but graded positively in the passing game.

Redshirt sophomore Austin Roberts, who led the Bruins with 10 targets, posted a positive grade in the passing game and excelled as a run blocker, according to Pro Football Focus’ charting. Expect him to see even more action as well.

8. Rebel quarterback Johnny Stanton IV, a former four-star recruit, looked for the big play all day against Jackson State, averaging 17.6 passing yards per attempt, per Pro Football Focus.