Oregon vs. UCLA: Game Grades for Ducks, Bruins

Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks flew into Pasadena and came away with a big 42-30 victory over the UCLA Bruins on Saturday. 

Oregon's ground game led the way, piling up 258 yards on the afternoon. True freshman Royce Freeman ran for a career-high 121 yards and two touchdowns. Mariota finished an efficient 17-of-27 for 210 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for two touchdowns as well. 

UCLA also had immense success on the ground. Paul Perkins ran for a career-high 190 yards on 22 carries. The Bruins had 328 yards on the ground in total. However, two turnovers by Brett Hundley proved to be costly. 

A full box score can be found here, courtesy of NCAA.com.

Check out first-half and final grades for both the Ducks and Bruins. Additional analysis for positional units will be addressed. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	B+	B+
Pass Defense	A	B+
Rushing Offense	A	A
Rush Defense	C-	C-
Special Teams	A-	A-
Coaching	B+	A-

Oregon Ducks Game Grades

Passing Offense

It was an efficient, if not unspectacular, day. With Oregon's ground game sustaining such great success, there was no real need to attack down the field much. Oregon's longest pass play on the afternoon went for only 31 yards. 

Offensive coordinator Scott Frost did a nice job of attacking UCLA's pressure with screens and perfectly called throws to the perimeter. Both Thomas Tyner and Pharaoh Brown were nice options for Mariota. Brown led the team with five catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. 

Pass Defense

The secondary did a terrific job of challenging UCLA's receivers in press coverage, daring the Bruins to beat the defense over the top. UCLA's wide receivers don't possess outstanding speed, and Oregon did a great job of game-planning for this. 

Holding Hundley to 216 yards passing is an impressive feat. Much of this production came in garbage time when the game was firmly in Oregon's grasp. Ifo Ekpre-Olomu played very well and had an important interception at the start of the third quarter. 

Rushing Offense

This was the most effective output to date for the team. Unsurprisingly, the addition of Jake Fisher helped immensely. Oregon's group got into a rhythm and really made life difficult on UCLA's defensive front. 

Oregon runners combined for 258 yards and four touchdowns on the day. Freeman and Tyner were exceptional—breaking tackles and running with power and decisiveness. Mariota's ability to run on zone-read calls also proved to be effective. 

Rush Defense

This was the weakest unit by far on the afternoon. The defensive front gave up more than 300 yards of rushing to UCLA. The Bruins offensive line opened up gaping running lanes and holes throughout the day. There were instances where Perkins went untouched seven yards down the field. 

In terms of pass rushing, the defensive line did quite well. Hundley was sacked six times on the afternoon. Without Arik Armstead healthy, the rushing totals by UCLA are somewhat understandable. 

Special Teams

The special teams unit did a great job of taking away the return threat that is Ishmael Adams. UCLA's dynamic returner had little in the way of opportunities. 

Aside from a missed extra point, the unit was perfect. Backup signal-caller Taylor Alie made a nice play by scoring on the two-point conversion on the first touchdown of the contest. 

Coaching

Lots of credit goes to Mark Helfrich and his staff. Oregon thoroughly outcoached UCLA on both sides of the ball. The offense looked dynamic and did a great job of mixing both the pass and run. Frost opted to up the tempo, which noticeably winded UCLA's front seven. 

Defensive coordinator Don Pellum made good adjustments in the second half. The scheme challenged UCLA's receivers at the line of scrimmage, and the exotic pressure packages in the second portion of the game made life difficult on Hundley. 

It was a great bounce-back game for the Ducks staff. 

Position Units	First-Half Grades	Final Grades
Passing Offense	B	C+
Pass Defense	C	B
Rushing Offense	A	A
Rush Defense	C-	D
Special Teams	C	B
Coaching	B	D

UCLA Bruins Game Grades

Passing Offense

Hundley threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, but those statistics are a bit misleading. His touchdown throws came in virtual garbage time when Oregon had a three-touchdown advantage. 

On the day, most of his attempts were of the short variety. UCLA rarely attempted to stretch the field vertically. As a result, it effectively placed itself in a 10-yard box. Oregon receivers were pressed up on the UCLA wideouts, and the Bruins were unable to take advantage. 

For the second game in a row, Thomas Duarte was woefully underutilized. The Mater Dei High School product had only two catches for 17 yards. 

Pass Defense

The secondary did a pretty decent job all afternoon. Oregon's longest pass play went for only 31 yards. Speedster Devon Allen was held to only two catches for 35 yards. 

If anything, the unit did a good job of not allowing Oregon wideouts behind the defense. UCLA safeties primarily played 20 to 25 yards beyond the line of scrimmage to account for the overall speed of Oregon's receivers.

On the day, UCLA held Mariota to only 210 yards passing. 

Rushing Offense

This was the biggest bright spot on the afternoon. The offensive line did a very good job of opening up running lanes for Perkins. The Queen Creek, Arizona, native ran for a career-high 190 yards on only 22 carries. 

There was also more of an emphasis on Hundley in the run game. UCLA smartly opted for more of a zone-read look and also quarterback-designed runs. The signal-caller finished with 89 yards on 22 carries. UCLA as a whole rushed for an impressive 328 yards on 54 carries. 

Rush Defense

The unit was porous at best. The defensive line had a bear of a time getting off its blocks. It looked at times as if the front four was stuck in quicksand. 

The Oregon stable of backs gashed UCLA on multiple attempts. As the game wore on, the defense became noticeable fatigued. This accounts for the 6.3 yards-per-carry average on the day for the Oregon rushing attack. 

Special Teams

A Ka'imi Fairbairn 41-yard missed field goal brings this grade down. At some point (perhaps sooner than later), head coach Jim Mora might have to look at other kicking options. 

UCLA's return game was rendered harmless for the most part. A recovered onside kick attempt late in the fourth quarter does raise the grade above the "average" mark. 

Coaching

Perhaps the most bizarre scene on the day was the shouting match between an animated Jeff Ulbrich and Mora. Defensively, the team seemingly had no clue how to stop Oregon's offense from functioning at a high level. UCLA resisted blitzing and thus couldn't compensate for Oregon's rushing attack. 

Offensively, the strange preference for walk-on receivers (Tyler Scott, Logan Sweet) over faster, scholarship options (Kenneth Walker, Mossi Johnson) is perplexing. UCLA rarely attempted to stretch the field vertically—in large part because there's a general lack of speed within its wide receiver corps. 

During one drive in the first half, UCLA picked up the tempo and marched down the field rather quickly. Myles Jack in particular rushed the ball very well. On the same drive down in the red zone, Noel Mazzone went away from Jack and instead utilized true freshman Nate Starks. UCLA failed to score a touchdown and settled for a field goal. 

Personnel choices and poor play-calling continue to hurt UCLA's offense.