UCLA Football: Fresno State loss proves Bruins still a work in progress

2. The UCLA run game is still inconsistent in Chip Kelly’s system

With the hire of Chip Kelly, the expectation was that the running game was going to transform for the better after years of ineptitude under Jim Mora. The Bruins have regularly struggled when they keep the ball on the ground. Unfortunately, this hasn’t changed in the first quarter of the season under Kelly.

Against a Fresno State team that gave up 117 yards per game in their first two outings, UCLA barely broke that mark against the Mountain West defense with 119 rushing yards as a team. The Bulldogs gave up no carries longer than 16 yards, as the Bruins were forced to chip away all game long on the ground. They were ultimately led by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson in rushing.

That proved costly, as Kelly’s offense struggled to keep the chains moving. With an ineffective ground game, the Bruins went just 1-of-10 on third downs. They did manage to convert two of their three fourth-down tries, but they were unable to keep drives going throughout the night.

It was an ugly result for a coach that is considered an offensive guru, especially when it comes to installing a plan for a high-powered rushing attack. Much as they did during the Mora era, the UCLA backfield was unable to find any consistency against an opponent who won the battle in the trenches.