HFNY
Active poster
This may turn out to be UCLA's season of unfulfilled expectations. They finished last season 5-1 (including a bowl win) and then started 4-0 (but they only beat UVa by 8, the Texas win is looking worse each week, and ASU isn't the same without Taylor Kelly) but they are now in danger of having the wheels come off with a loss @ Cal. Criticism of the coaches has usually centered on their staff having a bunch of guys who can recruit but can't coach guys up. That sure looks the case with Adrian Glenn and is Taylor Mazzone qualified to be a Pac-12 QBs coach? Demetrius Martin is their DB's coach (we all know about him) and Jeff Ulbrich is in his 1st year ever as a DC (Lou Spanos left after 2013 to be the LBs coach of the Tennessee Titans)...Mora and Ulbrich may be two meats whose clashes may get worse.
As for UW - Oregon, Jake Fisher is arguably Oregon's best OL. But, he's a RT who is playing LT and coming off a knee injury. Taking his place at RT has been Matt Pierson (walk-on) with a promising true frosh (Tyrell Crosby) as the swing back-up who started 3 games when Fisher was out. We know Grasu is good but he'll need help from Stevens and Hunt if Oregon wants to have a shot at running inside (even then, they could have difficulty scraping to the 2nd level to get to Timu and Shaq). So considering that, guys like Kikaha, A. Hudson, and E. Hudson will have plenty one on one opportunities with Pierson and Fisher (natural position is RT and he missed multiple games before the UCLA game with a knee inj ury). With all of that said, we should be able to get some pressure on Mariota with just 4 rushers (hopefully we see Kikaha and Littleton standing up on the edges).
At the same time, it's not like we're perfect on the OL with Riva getting injured again so RS-Frosh Coleman Shelton should another start at RT. He played well enough at Cal and bounced back nicely after having trouble with Stanford's Henry Anderson. Miles will have to hit some passes in the intermediate passing game and will need protection if U-Dub is to beat the spread (let alone winning the game). We should the ball decently well, especially Lavon Coleman is fed and maybe we'll see a planned QB draw from Miles in 4th down territory.
I'm a little surprised that special teams and penalties haven't been that great under Petersen but the general trend seems to be improvement. Each week our team is with Petersen and their's isn't with Chip Kelly is a positive in the coaching column.
As for UW - Oregon, Jake Fisher is arguably Oregon's best OL. But, he's a RT who is playing LT and coming off a knee injury. Taking his place at RT has been Matt Pierson (walk-on) with a promising true frosh (Tyrell Crosby) as the swing back-up who started 3 games when Fisher was out. We know Grasu is good but he'll need help from Stevens and Hunt if Oregon wants to have a shot at running inside (even then, they could have difficulty scraping to the 2nd level to get to Timu and Shaq). So considering that, guys like Kikaha, A. Hudson, and E. Hudson will have plenty one on one opportunities with Pierson and Fisher (natural position is RT and he missed multiple games before the UCLA game with a knee inj ury). With all of that said, we should be able to get some pressure on Mariota with just 4 rushers (hopefully we see Kikaha and Littleton standing up on the edges).
At the same time, it's not like we're perfect on the OL with Riva getting injured again so RS-Frosh Coleman Shelton should another start at RT. He played well enough at Cal and bounced back nicely after having trouble with Stanford's Henry Anderson. Miles will have to hit some passes in the intermediate passing game and will need protection if U-Dub is to beat the spread (let alone winning the game). We should the ball decently well, especially Lavon Coleman is fed and maybe we'll see a planned QB draw from Miles in 4th down territory.
I'm a little surprised that special teams and penalties haven't been that great under Petersen but the general trend seems to be improvement. Each week our team is with Petersen and their's isn't with Chip Kelly is a positive in the coaching column.
