UCLA’s 2018 season has some similar themes to UW’s 2014 season. As Husky fans saw first-hand, it takes time to learn good habits and unlearn bad habits. While Sark did some good things for UW, his teams always seemed to come up short on technique and discipline against top opponents. Chip Kelly is going through the same growing pains now, and UCLA might have an even shallower talent pool than UW did in Petersen’s inaugural season.
UCLA has not done much well so far this year. The team’s biggest weakness might be its passing offense. Against the Huskies’ secondary, that promises to make the Bruins very one-dimensional, which is a game plan Jimmy Lake should be able to exploit.