UCLA grades: Offense

The offense was adequate against UCLA. That is about the best you can get if you can’t run the football which the Ducks did not. 422 total yards, 88 of them on the ground. That is not the balance that offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead wants from his charges.

The playcalling itself was balanced. The Ducks passed 30 times, ran 34. The difference was productivity; 2.6 yards per rush (3.7 sack adjusted) versus 17.6 yards per completion.

This does not tell the whole story.

UCLA was clearly game-planning their defense to stop the run. Their run-blitz percentage was very high particularly on early downs. They stacked the box and dared the Ducks to throw, which they did. Had Moorhead not called 34 rushing plays, those seams in the UCLA coverage would not have been there later in the game.

Overall, it was a mixed bag. Good passing, suspect rushing.

Tyler Shough was quite good despite being under some decent Bruin pressure. It was actually astonishing how often UCLA sent guys. Oregon ran 64 offensive plays, UCLA sent one or more defenders on 44 of them. Of the 37 times Shough dropped back to pass, he was blitzed on 22 of them.

All that box stuffing up front led to some seams in the UCLA zone and one-on-one matchups for the receivers. Shough did a good job of finding those guys.

His decision-making on the RPO game was good but not great. He handed it into a stuffed lane a time or two when the keep looked open and/or a throw was available. But the majority of his reads were good and Moorhead did not seem to call it as much this game.

The running backs had a tough time of it because UCLA decided to take them away. C.J. Verdell bore the brunt of it with a very low per carry average. The fumble also drags down his grade this week. In the plus column, his pass blocking was quite good, and his touchdown run was nifty.

Travis Dye injected a dose of extra speed and fresh legs into the game when it was his turn, but he was still facing a UCLA defense with everybody in the box.

This was a game where every single mistake on the offensive line would be exposed because nobody had any help. Watching the game live, it simply seemed like UCLA controlled the line of scrimmage because they did. Checking out the film afterwards, you see that most of the time every guy did a good job. With so many Bruins to block there were lots of one-on-one situations, and it was difficult to double team the defensive line because that would leave big gaps which UCLA was sending guys through.

The toughest time running for the Ducks was between he guards, where they tried 13 times but netted only 21 yards. In pass pro with all the blitzing, the group gave Shough a clean pocket 11 of 30 tries.

So this is not to say there were not individual breakdowns which of course there were, as reflected in the scores. Keep in mind, UCLA has some really good defensive players up front. But overall, the group did better than it looked live, though clearly left room for improvement.

The receivers did an overall nice job against UCLA, with coming out parties for tight end Hunter Kampmoyer and wide receiver Devon Williams. The two combined for gaudy numbers including 193 of the Ducks’ 334 receiving yards.

In his return game from injury, Kampmoyer provided an excellent target for Shough with five catches and a touchdown, while Williams hauled in six catches for 123 yards and a score.

Jaylon Redd and Johnny Johnson III were both very good with their run blocking which accounted for half the snaps they were involved in.