In partnership with
UCLA started the season 0-4 and were in the running for worst power conference team in the country in September.
Firing DeShaun Foster as head coach seems to have made a big difference, though they have lost two in a row after winning their first three under interim coach Tim Skipper.
That includes a 28-21 loss at home to Nebraska last week after getting incinerated by Indiana 56-6 in the game before that.
Is the AI Bubble About to Burst? (95.2% Accurate Forecast)
NVIDIA officially reports earnings November 19, but you can get a sneak peek right now.
Not just for NVIDIA, but for dozens of public companies.
On Polymarket, the world's largest prediction market (with verified 95.2% accuracy), you can see what top forecasters believe will happen.
Our new Earnings Markets let you:
See real-time odds of NVIDIA beating estimates
Predict what executives will say on earnings calls
Profit directly from being right, regardless of stock price movement
Trade simple Yes/No outcomes instead of complex options
Will Jensen stun Wall Street again?
Or is the AI trade finally cooling off?
Top forecasters are already positioning.
As far as traditional stats, UCLA looks pretty bad with a couple of exceptions.
The Bruins are 27th in passing yards allowed but 122nd in rushing yards allowed.
The offense is fifth in the red zone and tied for 61st in rushing yards despite not much of a passing game.
Quarterback Nico Iamaleava, whom you might recall started at quarterback for Tennessee last season in the first round of the playoffs, is completing 63 percent of his passes this season (62nd nationally) and ranks 90th in passing efficiency.
He has a live arm, but he’s been at his best on the move this season. With 474 yards rushing (despite being sacked 23 times), he leads the team in rushing so he is by far their most important offensive players.
According to Pro Football Focus, he has really struggled to throw downfield, and play action is not a strength either.
Running backs Jaivian Thomas, Jalen Berger, Anthony Woods and Anthony Fries II all have solid PFF grades if you are into that sort of thing, but none has been a bellcow back.
The PFF offensive line grades are generally poor, but senior Garrett DiGiorgio has been their best. He plays both right guard and left tackle.
NOTE: I created the table and the header image in this post with AI using Google Workspace, and I have joined the Google Workspace Referral Program. If you’re interested in checking out their tools, click the button below (and I could receive compensation):
On defense, JonJon Vaughns leads the Big Ten with 9.8 tackles per game.
Tackle Gary Smith II is their best-rated defensive lineman, and stopping the run is his strength. Vaughns and fellow linebacker Isaiah Chisom both have solid grades overall, as does slot corner Scooter Jackson and outside corners Rodrick Pleasant and Andre Jordan Jr.
That is interesting since the unit stinks overall.
Pass rush is nonexistent, something consistent with the stats and PFF grades. In coverage, Pleasant has been pretty good while Jordan has not.
Do the advanced stats tell us anything different about UCLA than the traditional numbers?
According to numbers from CollegeFootballData.com, the UCLA defense is not good at anything but preventing explosive plays, where they rank fourth in the country overall. That goes for both run defense (20th) and pass defense (18th).
On passing downs, the Bruins are seventh in explosiveness so they are very committed to keeping the ball in front of them.
The front seven has been abysmal, ranking 129th in havoc and 127th in line yards. They are 134th in success rate both overall and on run plays (which isn’t surprising if you watched how easily Nebraska moved them), but the secondary isn’t much better at 126th in success rate on passing plays.
The offense has an above-average success rate (49th) but no explosiveness (111).
The running game has some promise with the 23rd-ranked success rate and 24th in explosiveness on rushing plays, and the Bruins rank 30th in second-level yards (the average of yards gained between 5-10 downfield) and 28th in open-field yards (beyond 10 yards).
UCLA is seventh in the Big Ten in overall team talent according to 247Sports, so perhaps Foster really was holding them back. (Then again, Indiana is last on that list…)
Nonetheless, I don’t think it’s going to matter much this week, but UCLA’s style of offense could be good to see for later in the season…
That’s all for this edition of Cus Words Sports, but please remember sharing is caring if you think anyone else would like what I’ve been producing!
I’ll have another post Wednesday from Ryan Day’s first weekly press conference and another edition of This Week in Ohio State Football on Friday. Maybe more between now and then, too.
Also please remember it helps me greatly if you click those ads at the top of the page (but doesn’t cost you anything).
