Scouting Report: UCLA vs. Colorado

UCLA football (3-5, 3-2 Pac-12) will look to extend its season-best winning streak to three games against Colorado (3-5, 1-4) on Saturday. Can the Bruins win their third straight in a row while sending the Buffalo reeling to their fifth-straight loss? Here is this week’s scouting report by Daily Bruin staff writer Jack Perez – who is still surprised the Bruins control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South.

Colorado’s offense

Base formations: Spread

Run-pass percentage: 50.6% run, 49.4% pass

Strength: Passing game

Weakness: Running depth chart

X-factor: QB Steven Montez

The Colorado offense has not gained any momentum in their past two road games.

Montez has 2,047 yards on 180 completions with 13 passing touchdowns as the Buffaloes have been within one score in three of their five losses.

The senior quarterback has not been perfect, though. He has eight interceptions –which may not seem that bad – but he has not thrown a touchdown outside of Boulder since Colorado’s Sept. 21 game against Arizona State.

The Buffaloes have a similar problem the Sun Devils did when they came into their game against the Bruins last week – they have no firm identity. They have the 75th-ranked rushing offense and 38th-ranked passing offense, yet coach Mel Tucker continues to pound the ball on the ground more and more often.

Running backs Alex Fontenot and Jaren Mangham have shouldered the bulk of the rushing attack. The two have combined for 944 yards on the ground on 204 attempts, but there is very little depth behind those two.

Tony Brown and Laviska Shenault Jr. are the main weapons in the passing game. They both have a game with nine catches and 150 or more yards and are both explosive enough to take advantage of a Bruin defense that ranks 127th out of 130 teams in passing yards allowed.

Montez and company will need to break out of their road slump and put up lots of points to keep up with a Bruin offense that has exploded since an early stumble.

Colorado’s defense

Base defense: 3-4

Blitz tendency: Medium

Strength: Rush defense

Weakness: Pass defense, points allowed

X-factor: LB Nate Landman

Put lightly, the Buffaloes’ defense has not been their strength in 2019.

Colorado has given up at least 30 points in every game this year. This has gotten even worse in conference games, as the Buffaloes are giving up 37.4 points per game against Pac-12 opponents.

The main culprit is the pass defense. While the Bruin defense has seemed rough in 2019, the Buffalos are allowing 327.3 yards through the air per game, good for second-worst in the FBS.

The rush defense, while not perfect, has been much better. They are 65th in rushing yards allowed at 159.6 per game. The outside linebackers are consistently hunting the running back, which may be hurting their passing game in the process. Against Washington State on Oct. 19, Colorado gave up just 57 yards on nine completions to running back Max Borghi, but were torched for 312 yards by the Cougar receivers on 26 catches.

One player that has been all over the field is Landman. The Second-Team All-Pac-12 junior has 94 tackles this season, 45 more than the next closest Buffalo. He also has two pass breakups and nine third-down stops and will be a big hurdle for the Bruin offense to clear.

UCLA has scored at least 31 points in three straight games. If Dorian Thompson-Robinson – who is questionable heading into Saturday – and his receivers repeat their feats from the Sept. 21 game against Washington State or Oct. 17 matchup against Stanford, Colorado might be out of this game before they even get a chance to respond.