Report Card: UCLA vs. USC

Quarterbacks: C+

I feel like I write the same thing every week about Mike Fafaul. Saturday was yet another serviceable performance from the redshirt senior.

Fafaul completed under 50 percent of his passes, though he did connect with redshirt sophomore receiver Jordan Lasley for a pair of touchdowns in the first half.

The first score, a 56-yarder, came on a good throw from Fafaul, but Lasley caught the ball just over 15 yards from the line of scrimmage and took it another 40 yards because of a botched tackle from the USC safety.

The UCLA coaching staff doesn’t talk much about the changes it has made to adjust for Fafaul, but the plan of attack in the passing game is very conservative.

The coaching staff doesn’t ask Fafaul to throw the ball downfield much. He averaged just 5.84 yards per attempt, and according to Pro Football Focus, went 0-for-4 on passes over 20 yards.

The coaches also don’t ask him to work through progressions at anywhere near the same level expected of sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen when he’s on the field.

Many of Fafaul’s completions came on quick-hitting throws to his first read. When he operates in that mode, he’s fairly efficient. Against the Trojans, he went 11-for-18 when getting the ball out in under 2.5 seconds, according to Pro Football Focus.

If he holds the ball longer, he often ends up throwing it away; When he held the ball for more than 2.5 seconds against USC, he completed just four of his 13 attempts.

Those limitations showed themselves on a fourth-and-four late in the game, when Fafaul found redshirt junior wideout Darren Andrews over the middle, but Andrews was stopped one yard short of the first down.

Andrews was his first read, and Fafaul seemed intent on throwing it there. This play could have certainly worked, and it’s not fair to pin all the blame for the failed conversion on Fafaul, but it’s an example of his limitations.

Fafaul got into a slight rhythm early in the third quarter, when he completed five passes in a row thanks to some nice play-calling that provided him with quick, easy reads, but he never was able to challenge the USC pass defense much. He completed just four of his final 12 passes as the game slipped away from the Bruins.

Running backs: C

The Bruins ran the ball more times in the first quarter – 10 – than they did throughout the entire remainder of the game.

In that first quarter, UCLA looked like it might have some success on the ground, piling up 47 yards on those 10 carries and picking up three rushing first downs.

The Bruins didn’t get a single first down on the ground throughout the final three quarters, though, as they ran the ball just nine more times for eight total yards.

It’s tough to separate this unit’s difficulties from those of the offensive line, but the backs certainly weren’t making anything interesting happen.

It’s also unclear why UCLA went away from sophomore Bolu Olorunfunmi and freshman Jalen Starks, who received the bulk of the first-quarter carries, but then saw none during the second quarter.

Sophomore Soso Jamabo and junior Nate Starks got the ball in the second period, and produced a total of no yards on three carries. Both of them run with less bruising styles than Olorunfunmi and Jalen Starks. That can lend itself to big plays, but the reluctance to plow forward and get “ugly yards” also can result in stops at the line.

Wide receivers and tight ends: C

Lasley seemed intent on beating the Trojans by himself early in the game, putting up two touchdowns to give the Bruins a 14-7 lead.

His development is a major bright spot on UCLA’s frustrating season, as he’s become a tremendous playmaker. The first touchdown, as outlined above, was largely a result of a defensive breakdown, but the second demonstrated more repeatable aspects of Lasley’s improvement as a receiver: his route-running and ability to fight for contested balls.

Lasley received 10 targets, but aside from the two early touchdowns, Lasley didn’t haul in any other passes and dropped two balls. The coaching staff will hope he can be more consistent in the future, but he’s a dynamic pass-catching option for UCLA.

Andrews, the most reliable of the Bruins’ receivers, once again stuffed the stat sheet, hauling in six of eight targets for 63 yards.

Redshirt freshman tight end Caleb Wilson saw a decent amount of work against his former team, catching four of his five targets for 38 yards. Wilson wasn’t targeted downfield, as his longest reception went for just 11 yards.

Freshman wide receiver Theo Howard, always a hot topic amongst the UCLA fanbase, did drop a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, but also displayed fairly veteran route-running ability in the first quarter one of the Bruins’ two third-down conversions.

Howard, running a slant, recognized USC’s underneath zone coverage and stopped on a dime in the soft spot over the middle.

Offensive line: C-

Although the Trojans didn’t record a sack, they were able to pressure Fafaul on 12 of his 33 drop-backs, and their defensive line completely controlled the line of scrimmage in the run game.

The problems varied from play to play, but on nearly every run, the line failed in some form.

This third-quarter hand-off to Jalen Starks is a good example of the line’s struggles.

The end result is Starks being met by three USC defenders at the line. Let’s take a look at all the things that went wrong.

Redshirt freshman right tackle Andre James loses his block, forcing redshirt junior center Scott Quessenberry to deal with the defender, for whom James was responsible. Quessenberry is thus unable to get upfield and lead the way for Starks, and James falls at the feet of junior right guard Najee Toran, causing Toran to lose his block. Meanwhile, redshirt junior left guard Poasi Moala is unable to reach his defender at the second level. For good measure, Wilson also loses his block.

There were examples throughout the game of the UCLA offense’s inability to match up with USC at the line.

On this carry by Olorunfunmi, both James and Toran lose, and Olorunfunmi is met by two defenders right at the line.

Here, James completely whiffs on a block of Porter Gustin, who darts into the backfield for a tackle-for-loss.

Here, the right side of the line does okay, but Quessenberry gets pushed back and thrown aside by USC’s Stevie Tu’ikolovatu.

Here, Moala gets destroyed by blitzing linebacker Cameron Smith, forcing Fafaul to break out of the pocket and throw the ball away.

Defensive line: C+

We’ll start with the good: Takkarist McKinley and Eddie Vanderdoes.

McKinley had far from his most dominant game of the season, but still helped solidify his first-round draft stock by frustrating USC’s pair of talented tackles, left tackle Chad Wheeler and right tackle Zach Banner.

The senior defensive end spoke after the game about the Trojans’ game plan to stop him, noting that they tried to use his speed against him by letting him upfield, often to chip him with a running back.

McKinley adjusted to that and started picking his spots wisely to cut back inside on the opposing lineman. Here, he notices Ronald Jones in position to chip his outside shoulder, then uses his hands to work back across of Wheeler and flush Trojan quarterback Sam Darnold out of the pocket.

Darnold, who looked like a wizard at times in this game with his ability to escape the pocket and make plays, completes the pass, but not without taking a hit from McKinley, whose non-stop motor was on full display throughout the night.

He had more trouble with Banner than with Wheeler – four of his five pressures came from the right side, according to Pro Football Focus – but even against Banner, McKinley used that motor to cause problems and make plays.

McKinley’s speed is his most dangerous asset, and he came up with a key pressure late in the game by flying off the ball and getting upfield before Wheeler could engage him. It made the Trojan tackle look silly.

Redshirt junior lineman Vanderdoes also flashed, especially in the run game. USC left guard Damien Mama earned a National Team of the Week nod from Pro Football Focus, but Vanderdoes overpowered him on one run late in the game, showing off his excellent hand usage as he tossed Mama to the side.

McKinley’s and Vanderdoes’ exploits aside, the defensive line – especially on the interior – largely lost the battle to the Trojan front. Running back Ronald Jones averaged 6.7 yards per carry thanks to a bevy of gaping holes opened up by the interior line.

Linebackers: C+

Senior linebacker Jayon Brown is likely to get an NFL opportunity because of his fantastic instincts in the run game, and he showed those at times during the matchup with USC.

There’s a reason that three Bruin defensive backs ended up with eight or more tackles. The linebackers, though they weren’t helped all that much by the defensive line, struggled to stay clean and plug up gaps.

Defensive backs: C-

Darnold went after redshirt senior Randall Goforth, completing seven-of-eight passes in his direction, including this touchdown, on which 6-foot-4 Trojan wideout De’Quan Hampton went up to snag the ball over top of the 5-foot-10 Goforth.

Darnold put up a quarterback rating of 152.6 when targeting Goforth, per Pro Football Focus. Goforth was also arguably responsible for Jones’ 60-yard run in the second quarter because he overcommitted, crashing toward the line and leaving a hole at the second level.

Sophomore cornerback Nate Meadors led the team in tackles with 10, but also had troubles in coverage, giving up seven catches on seven targets.

And once Meadors and senior cornerback Fabian Moreau – who played well and came up with an interception – left the game with injuries, Darnold attacked backups, redshirt senior Marcus Rios and redshirt junior John Johnson without hesitation.

Here, on a third down, Rios is matched up against USC star receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Darnold looked that way right from the snap for the conversion.