UCLA Football: Does Chip Kelly deserve to be on hot seat in 2020?

With nothing to lose, can UCLA turn into true Chip Kelly offense?

What a difference a decade and a half can make. Fifteen years ago, Chip Kelly was an offensive coordinator plying his trade at the FCS level for his alma mater. His innovative offenses ranked third nationally in scoring in 2005 and second behind only Jim Harbaugh’s San Diego Toreros in 2006 when Mike Bellotti tabbed the Granite State native to cross the country to the Willamette Valley to replace Gary Crowton.

In six seasons in Eugene, Kelly turned Oregon into a juggernaut on offense. His first year with the Ducks saw the team rise to a top-two spot in the BCS rankings in a chaotic 2007 campaign before Heisman hopeful Dennis Dixon shredded his ACL and hopes in Eugene flamed out. Three years later, in his second season as the head coach, Oregon was playing for a national championship. In four seasons leading the Ducks, they went to a BCS bowl every season.

This year’s UCLA offense is coming off a campaign where they averaged more than 400 yards per game but were erratic at putting points on the scoreboard. The Bruins scored only two touchdowns per game in each of their three losses to open the season. The they broke out with a 67-63 win over Washington State and scored 30 or more points in five of their final seven games.

Only crosstown rival USC returns more offensive production than UCLA, but a team that lost running back Joshua Kelley to the NFL will need to restock its ground game quickly.

Focusing on UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson

Of course, some heat will come off of that ground game if third-year starting quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson can take the next leap like Dennis Dixon did in his final season under Kelly in Eugene. Thompson-Robinson saw his completion rate improve by two full percentage points last year, as he threw for 2,700 yards and 21 touchdowns.

If Thompson-Robinson can get his completion rate up another couple of points to somewhere around 62 percent, he can easily top 3000 passing yards and get another half-dozen touchdowns. That is going to be critical to any sustained success the Bruins experience on offense this season.

The quarterback also needs to show off the dual-threat capabilities that made him a top-40 recruit coming out of high school. Over his first 20 games, Thompson-Robinson averaged only 1.6 yards per carry. If he can score at least five touchdowns on the ground (he had four last season), Thompson-Robinson could help propel UCLA to a surprise or two.