UCLA football pushes to improve defensive line for game against USC

There’s been a lot of talk swirling through the air about the matchup between junior quarterbacks Josh Rosen and his USC counterpart, Sam Darnold.

And rightfully so, since Saturday’s meeting between UCLA football (5-5, 3-4 Pac-12) and No. 11 USC (9-2, 7-1) will feature two of the brightest young quarterback talents in the country.

But the ground is just as important as the air.

In addition to Darnold, the Trojans have tailback Ronald Jones II at their disposal, a player who could pose an even more daunting threat to UCLA.

“Yeah, he’s pretty darn good,” said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. “I think he has great vision. He does a lot of different things.”

Jones II averages 122 yards per game. His most prolific performance came against Arizona State, when he ran for 216 yards. The 6-foot, 200-pound Trojan senior ranks 10th in the country in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.

UCLA ranks dead last among the Football Bowl Subdivision teams in rushing defense, giving up a whopping 302 yards per game. Nonetheless, coach Jim Mora provided reason to believe that his rush defense is improving, even after the Bruins gave up close to 300 net yards on the ground during Saturday’s game against Arizona State.

“I see a defensive line that, at this point, is starting to get it,” Mora said.

Mora noted that many of the players who helped UCLA have such a strong defensive line are now making an impact in the NFL, such as Eddie Vanderdoes and Takkarist McKinley.

Injuries have also hurt the line, with senior defensive tackle Matt Dickerson suffering a collarbone injury in the Oregon game.

“When we lost Matt we got very, very young,” Mora said. “That youth has shown particularly when things happen fast.”

When opposing backs get through a gap and put a run together, it has caused his linemen to overcompensate, Mora said.

“Their mind starts to race,” Mora said. “And I’ve seen things start to slow down. I’ve seen it in practice on a consistent basis.”

If Jones II makes it through the UCLA front four, then he’ll get the opportunity to deal with a linebacker corps that also isn’t what Mora thought he’d be running out at the beginning of the year.

Although senior Kenny Young has been a mainstay at the linebacker position, junior linebacker Josh Woods’ season-ending shoulder surgery has thrust sophomore Krys Barnes and redshirt sophomore Keisean Lucier-South into linebacker spots either side of Young.

Mora attributed some of the defense’s difficulties to lack of experience at the position.

“I think in (Lucier-South) and (Barnes) you’ve got two young, talented guys,” Mora said. “I think they’re really going to be good players, but again they haven’t played much.”

Earlier this week, Mora acknowledged that in terms of overcoming injuries, this has been one of the craziest years of his career. Jones II is the type of player that causes trouble for healthy teams.

For Bradley, the answer to stopping Jones II may lie in his defense’s ability to gang up on the back.

“We have to make sure we’re swarming around the ball,” Bradley said. “Get a lot of people around the ball, so when he does make some moves and some cuts, we have some people there to help out.”