UCLA football’s effective defense against BYU to be tested by Stanford

PROVO, Utah — It was a defensive performance unlike anything we’ve seen from a UCLA team in recent memory.

The Bruins held their opponent – the BYU Cougars – to 23 rushing yards on 25 attempts. That’s the fewest rushing yards allowed by a UCLA defense since 2008.

[Recap: UCLA football tops BYU 17-14]

But it wasn’t just that. There was a deeper significance behind the stats.

Entering the game, UCLA’s run defense was one of the most maligned parts of the team. In their last five games dating back to last season, the Bruins had allowed at least 175 yards rushing in all of them.

“Coming from last year, where the run game was a weakness for us, this shows a lot of improvement,” said senior outside linebacker Jayon Brown.

Brown had perhaps the toughest job of any UCLA defender all night. He was tasked with spying BYU quarterback Taysom Hill, who has over 2,300 rushing yards in his collegiate career.

“This is one of the most mobile quarterbacks that we face this year,” Brown said. “Watching him on film, he was very dangerous running the ball. So we wanted to contain him.”

At first, Brown appeared to be utilizing a delayed blitz against Hill. But defensive coordinator Tom Bradley clarified that Brown’s sole duty was to spy Hill and prevent him from escaping the pocket.

“It was more of a ‘key the quarterback’ than a delayed blitz,” Bradley said. “Hill can hurt you when he runs the ball – that’s where he’s most dangerous. … We were spying the quarterback, rather than dropping (Brown) back, or hugging him back (in pass coverage).”

Brown excelled in his role, sacking Hill once, hurrying him another time and pressuring him into several rushed decisions. Hill finished with -7 yards rushing on the night – the lowest single-game rushing total of his four-plus year college career.

[Related: Ten things #YoungerThanTaysomHill]

“We’ve made a huge emphasis on stopping the run. We felt it was imperative that we not let the quarterback get out and go and use his legs,” said coach Jim Mora. “I think we executed well.”

Of course, Brown wasn’t the only Bruin responsible for the standout defensive performance. Redshirt junior defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes was back in the fold, as were senior defensive ends Takkarist McKinley and Deon Hollins. They helped generate a push up front that hadn’t been seen since the first three drives in the season opener against Texas A&M.

“I think having (McKinley and Hollins) back really raised the tempo of the game, the level of all of us on the defense,” Vanderdoes said. “When you’ve got your edge rushers back, it’s nice. They’re disruptive, they bring fire to the field. … That’s whom I’ve been wanting to play with for a while.”

Even though he was noticeably limping at points during the game, McKinley still ravaged the BYU offensive line. He ended up with only one sack, but he provided constant pressure throughout the game, making things uncomfortable for Hill in the pocket.

“Takk brings speed and he bring simpact off the edge. He closes the pocket quickly,” Mora said. “The way we rushed was what was impressive. Squeezing the pocket. Not giving (Hill) chances to get out.”

McKinley injury update

McKinley left late in the fourth quarter for what appeared to be concussion protocol. After the game, Mora said that McKinley was totally fine and celebrating with his teammates.

“He was fine in the locker room. I mean he took a shot, he’s playing hard,” Mora said. “I’m not exactly sure what happened. I just asked him how he was doing and he said he was doing great.”

The ultimate trial

The Bruins finally proved this week that they can stop the run. But now, they have to prove that they can stop the run consistently. There’s no better test for that than the Pac-12 opener against No. 7 Stanford this coming Saturday.

“I’m really proud of the way they matured,” Mora said. “Of course, this week is going to be an amazing test, a great team. So we’ve got to take the same approach.”

The Cardinal has been the Bruins’ main nemesis in the Mora era, and a lot of that has to do with their dominance in the running game. The ripple effect of Stanford’s dominance has gone so far as to change UCLA’s entire defensive strategy this past offseason. The Bruins used to be a 3-4 team; now, to combat the power-running teams like Stanford, UCLA runs a 4-3.

The BYU game was the first time that the new 4-3 system appeared to work as planned for UCLA. Now, it will take a week of waiting to see if it will work in the very situation it was first designed for.

Email Joye at [email protected] or tweet @mattjoye.