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UCLA Football: 5 takeaways from Bruins’ 2018 season

By Connor Muldowney

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 17: Running back Joshua Kelley #27 of the UCLA Bruins looks over his shoulder as he heads for the end zone during the first second of a football game at Rose Bowl on November 17, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 17: Running back Joshua Kelley #27 of the UCLA Bruins looks over his shoulder as he heads for the end zone during the first second of a football game at Rose Bowl on November 17, 2018 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) /
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The 2018 season didn’t go exactly as Chip Kelly had planned, but UCLA football has nowhere to go but up from here. What’d we learn from 2018?

Chip Kelly knew it was going to be tough, but he probably didn’t expect a 3-9 result in his first season as head coach of UCLA.

The former Oregon head coach spent time in the NFL before deciding to come back and coach the Bruins and the excitement level before the 2018 season was at an all-time high. Would he turn the Bruins into what the Ducks were during their successful run? If we learned anything from the 2018 season, it’s that Rome wasn’t built in a day.

The Bruins were in a bad place post-Jim Mora and Kelly had his work cut out. He has laid a foundation to build upon, but just needs to get his guys in place and recruit at a high level.

What did we learn from the Bruins’ 2018 season?

5. Bruins have talented pieces on defense

The Bruins had some talented pieces on the defensive side of the ball and a good majority of them are young and returning for the 2019 season, but they couldn’t seem to put it all together.

In fact, UCLA allowed 445 yards of total offense per game along with just over 30 points per game which ranked near the bottom nationally. They couldn’t seem to stop anyone, especially in a pass-heavy Pac-12. It wasn’t just the secondary, though, as the front-seven surrendered 200 rushing yards per game.

With the pieces that they have, the Bruins should have been much more effective on this side of the ball. Leading tackler Adarius Pickett will be gone, but the core of the defense returns which could only be a good thing for the Bruins in 2019.

There’s only one direction for this team to head with talents like Krys Barnes, Tyree Thompson, Darnay Holmes, Keisean Lucier-South but losing Jaelan Phillips will hurt.

Still, this team should improve on the defensive end next season.

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