D
Derek Young
Guest
OFFENSE
If you’re team Delton, this was the game for you. Skylar Thompson of course got the nod as starter at quarterback but it didn’t go particularly well. The offense was stuck in mud, they weren’t moving the ball and there lacked cohesion.
Kansas State came out passing with Thompson. Some of his throws were late. Some of his throws were short. His pocket presence was not on point. Thompson was going through more progressions than the last time we saw him, which is promising, but it was not at the speed that was needed.
The Wildcats decided to give Alex Delton a shot under center. His first snap he took the ball and raced 68 yards for a touchdown. K-State went back to Thompson the very next drive but he was not effective once again. Bill Snyder and the ‘Cats decided to roll with Delton the rest of the way, including the entirety of the second half.
Delton may have been the quarterback best suited to attack the Bruins’ defense. They are 128th out of 130 programs in defending the run. For whatever reason, Kansas State came out to begin the game trying to attack UCLA through the air with Thompson. When that was not successful, they went back to the run with Delton. That worked. Wild.
It was also odd that after Delton’s first touchdown run, and carving up the Bruins on the ground, they again went back to the passing game and threw it three times in a row which forced them to punt. When they decided to commit to the run, good things happened. It certainly shouldn’t have been a novel idea given UCLA’s struggles all year.
Something that has bothered me all year has been the decision-making and strategy right before halves and at the end of the games. The time management, clock management and decision-making in terms of coaching has appeared rather poor. Again, K-State had the ball with the clock ticking down. The ball was at midfield and they were in striking distance to take a shot at the end zone. And amazingly, Kansas State didn’t even get off a snap. Perhaps even more amazingly, UCLA didn’t call a timeout to force the Wildcats to punt. It was an awful sequence by both coaching staffs.
How did KSU stay unpredictable? They threw in some RPO (run-pass options) plays and even diversified the running game with both Alex Barnes and Alex Delton. They both tallied over 100 yards on the ground. Delton finished with 158 and Barnes rolled up 117.
But can they maintain enough balance over the course of the season with Delton under center? Does he pose enough of a passing threat? Is he durable enough because an offense with him at the helm probably does require him to muster at least 20 carries a game? Those are questions that will need to be answered moving forward when deciding what quarterback gives them the best chance at winning?
I do certainly agree with the decision to lean on Delton with this one. He gave them the best chance to win this game. But does he give them the best chance over the course of the season? I’m not so sure of that. A vertical passing game will be needed to defeat some teams. Can he consistently provide that? Can he stay healthy? Is it possible to be unpredictable on offense with him under center? Teams will sell out against the running game when he is in.
This game invites much discussion for the offseason. There’s many questions to ask about an offense that is led by Skylar Thompson as well. It will likely be the storyline of the spring, the storyline of the summer and the storyline of fall camp. Tonight, the answer was Delton and it wasn’t even close.
DEFENSE
For a little bit in the first half, the defense had a rough going, especially defending the pass. That should come as no surprise. They’ve been carved up and surrendered a ton of yardage through the air all year despite solid cover corners. It is more of a philosophy that lends itself to that. They give bigger than typical cushions and don’t challenge with tight coverage all that much. Statistics aren’t going to tell the whole story because of that. When they were exposed in the first half, they seemed to be overwhelmed by the team speed of UCLA and especially from Jordan Lasley. He finished the game with 8 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Tonight, was one of those nights. It was the usual. The Bruins threw for a bunch of yardage, struggled to run, but only scored 17 points total and were shut out in the second half.
In my opinion, some of the better performances came from Will Geary (as always), Elijah Sullivan, Trey Dishon and Jayd Kirby. The defensive tackles and linebackers were pretty good. The safeties struggled, especially in the first half.
Eli Walker was fantastic against the run but vulnerable against the pass, which has been the case for him all year. My suggestion would be for him now to just make the move to linebacker and play the role they wanted Vernon Dasher for. There’s obviously a void there that is coming. Put Walker there now that he has the luxury of time to learn a new spot. It’s the offseason. He is brilliant in defending the run but a liability in coverage. Let’s use his strengths and erase the weaknesses.
One other knock on the night would be the absence of any kind of pass rush. That has been the case for most of the season but it seemed to improve the last two or three games when they inserted Boom Massie and Chase Johnston into the games more and more. Kyle Ball also continued to make strides. Tonight, it seemed like it disappeared once again. It’s actually the only real knock.
As briefly noted above, the run defense was fantastic. I can only remember one error and that was Trent Tanking not having the speed to the edge when the Bruins ran out of the bunch formation in the first quarter. Otherwise, UCLA never could mount any rushing game at all. They finished the night with just 69 yards on 25 carries, which is only good for 2.8 yards a carry.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There wasn’t a ton of special teams to make note of, in all honesty. McCrane was not used in anything other than extra points. The Bruins did make a field goal.
Kansas State’s returners did not come up with any big plays, either. D.J. Reed almost broke one but UCLA’s team speed was able to corral him. However, he did commit a gaffe of his own. He picked up a ball off a punt that he probably should have left alone. He then proceeded to go backwards with the ball and almost got caught for a safety. The Wildcats were forced to start with the ball on their own two-yard line.
The biggest point was probably the execution and success of a fake punt by UCLA. K-State fell victim to it. However, the Bruins ended up turning the ball over on downs later in the possession.
If you’re team Delton, this was the game for you. Skylar Thompson of course got the nod as starter at quarterback but it didn’t go particularly well. The offense was stuck in mud, they weren’t moving the ball and there lacked cohesion.
Kansas State came out passing with Thompson. Some of his throws were late. Some of his throws were short. His pocket presence was not on point. Thompson was going through more progressions than the last time we saw him, which is promising, but it was not at the speed that was needed.
The Wildcats decided to give Alex Delton a shot under center. His first snap he took the ball and raced 68 yards for a touchdown. K-State went back to Thompson the very next drive but he was not effective once again. Bill Snyder and the ‘Cats decided to roll with Delton the rest of the way, including the entirety of the second half.
Delton may have been the quarterback best suited to attack the Bruins’ defense. They are 128th out of 130 programs in defending the run. For whatever reason, Kansas State came out to begin the game trying to attack UCLA through the air with Thompson. When that was not successful, they went back to the run with Delton. That worked. Wild.
It was also odd that after Delton’s first touchdown run, and carving up the Bruins on the ground, they again went back to the passing game and threw it three times in a row which forced them to punt. When they decided to commit to the run, good things happened. It certainly shouldn’t have been a novel idea given UCLA’s struggles all year.
Something that has bothered me all year has been the decision-making and strategy right before halves and at the end of the games. The time management, clock management and decision-making in terms of coaching has appeared rather poor. Again, K-State had the ball with the clock ticking down. The ball was at midfield and they were in striking distance to take a shot at the end zone. And amazingly, Kansas State didn’t even get off a snap. Perhaps even more amazingly, UCLA didn’t call a timeout to force the Wildcats to punt. It was an awful sequence by both coaching staffs.
How did KSU stay unpredictable? They threw in some RPO (run-pass options) plays and even diversified the running game with both Alex Barnes and Alex Delton. They both tallied over 100 yards on the ground. Delton finished with 158 and Barnes rolled up 117.
But can they maintain enough balance over the course of the season with Delton under center? Does he pose enough of a passing threat? Is he durable enough because an offense with him at the helm probably does require him to muster at least 20 carries a game? Those are questions that will need to be answered moving forward when deciding what quarterback gives them the best chance at winning?
I do certainly agree with the decision to lean on Delton with this one. He gave them the best chance to win this game. But does he give them the best chance over the course of the season? I’m not so sure of that. A vertical passing game will be needed to defeat some teams. Can he consistently provide that? Can he stay healthy? Is it possible to be unpredictable on offense with him under center? Teams will sell out against the running game when he is in.
This game invites much discussion for the offseason. There’s many questions to ask about an offense that is led by Skylar Thompson as well. It will likely be the storyline of the spring, the storyline of the summer and the storyline of fall camp. Tonight, the answer was Delton and it wasn’t even close.
DEFENSE
For a little bit in the first half, the defense had a rough going, especially defending the pass. That should come as no surprise. They’ve been carved up and surrendered a ton of yardage through the air all year despite solid cover corners. It is more of a philosophy that lends itself to that. They give bigger than typical cushions and don’t challenge with tight coverage all that much. Statistics aren’t going to tell the whole story because of that. When they were exposed in the first half, they seemed to be overwhelmed by the team speed of UCLA and especially from Jordan Lasley. He finished the game with 8 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Tonight, was one of those nights. It was the usual. The Bruins threw for a bunch of yardage, struggled to run, but only scored 17 points total and were shut out in the second half.
In my opinion, some of the better performances came from Will Geary (as always), Elijah Sullivan, Trey Dishon and Jayd Kirby. The defensive tackles and linebackers were pretty good. The safeties struggled, especially in the first half.
Eli Walker was fantastic against the run but vulnerable against the pass, which has been the case for him all year. My suggestion would be for him now to just make the move to linebacker and play the role they wanted Vernon Dasher for. There’s obviously a void there that is coming. Put Walker there now that he has the luxury of time to learn a new spot. It’s the offseason. He is brilliant in defending the run but a liability in coverage. Let’s use his strengths and erase the weaknesses.
One other knock on the night would be the absence of any kind of pass rush. That has been the case for most of the season but it seemed to improve the last two or three games when they inserted Boom Massie and Chase Johnston into the games more and more. Kyle Ball also continued to make strides. Tonight, it seemed like it disappeared once again. It’s actually the only real knock.
As briefly noted above, the run defense was fantastic. I can only remember one error and that was Trent Tanking not having the speed to the edge when the Bruins ran out of the bunch formation in the first quarter. Otherwise, UCLA never could mount any rushing game at all. They finished the night with just 69 yards on 25 carries, which is only good for 2.8 yards a carry.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There wasn’t a ton of special teams to make note of, in all honesty. McCrane was not used in anything other than extra points. The Bruins did make a field goal.
Kansas State’s returners did not come up with any big plays, either. D.J. Reed almost broke one but UCLA’s team speed was able to corral him. However, he did commit a gaffe of his own. He picked up a ball off a punt that he probably should have left alone. He then proceeded to go backwards with the ball and almost got caught for a safety. The Wildcats were forced to start with the ball on their own two-yard line.
The biggest point was probably the execution and success of a fake punt by UCLA. K-State fell victim to it. However, the Bruins ended up turning the ball over on downs later in the possession.
