UCLA vs. Hawaii Week 0: Scouting Report
![UCLA vs. Hawaii Week 0: Scouting Report UCLA vs. Hawaii Week 0: Scouting Report](https://www.si.com/.image/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/MTgzNDM2ODM1NTg4OTQxMjE4/usatsi_15135457.jpg)
One of the Bruins' major talking points this offseason has been how much production they're returning to the field.
With only running back Demetric Felton and defensive lineman Osa Odighizuwa departing for the NFL, UCLA football is returning 93% of its 2020 production this fall, according to ESPN's Bill Connelly. That might not provide the Bruins as much as an advantage as it seems on paper, however, because their first opponent of the season retained almost as much.
Hawaii ranked just one spot behind UCLA on Connelly's list, bringing back 92% of its production from a team that went 5-4 a season ago.
That means we can expect to see a lot of the same from Todd Graham and the Rainbow Warriors in 2021, and here's a quick rundown of what that might look like.
Hawaii Offense vs. UCLA Defense
Hawaii 2020 Passing Yards/Game: 231.4 yards
Hawaii 2020 Rushing Yards/Game: 152.6 yards
UCLA 2020 Passing Yards Allowed/Game: 274.1 yards
UCLA 2020 Rushing Yards Allowed/Game: 135.7 yards
The Rainbow Warriors are going into their first year with Bo Graham at offensive coordinator, with GJ Kinne hopping over to UCF in the offseason. Don't expect that to drastically change Hawaii's offense, however, since they are returning most of their starters and Graham has been on head coach Todd Graham's staffs everywhere he went for the last 20 years. After all, he is the coach's son.
Big Graham is a defense-first coach, so it's not like he has a defined system or handles play-calling duties, but their history of working together suggests more of the same on that side of the ball. Interestingly enough, Bo Graham was the Rainbow Warriors' primary play-caller as the team's passing game coordinator and running backs coach, so that just goes even further to suggest their 2021 offense will very closely resemble their 2020 one.
That offense was a basic spread offense that often lined up in the shotgun with one back. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro was tasked with running read options and RPOs, and he did so very well in a simplified, relatively bare-bones system. That isn't to say the offense wasn't creative at all last year, though, as this inside pitch touchdown from the 2020 New Mexico Bowl shows.
The Hawaii offense runs through Cordeiro, even though he doesn't boast the top-tier accuracy or arm strength of most college quarterbacks. His 62.3% completion percentage and 2.3-to-1 TD-to-INT ratio in 2020 look good, but they're misleading due to the fact he averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt. Cordeiro's mediocre 129.1 passer rating is a better measure of his talent as a true quarterback. The Rainbow Warriors won't be calling many deep shots – the most you'll typically see them rely on Cordeiro's arm is on a 20-yard seam. Other than that, it's mostly pitches, screens, wheels and other short routes that the staff knows he can make.
When Cordeiro does uncork the occasional bomb, it doesn't always go that well, like on this attempt with very minimal pressure that ends in a 10-yard overthrow.
Mitchell Agude, Bo Calvert, Caleb Johnson and Datona Jackson are going to be key as the Bruins' leading pass rushers this season, but the outcome of this game won't be resting on their ability to get sacks. Cordeiro doesn't always make defenses pay for giving him time and space in the pocket anyways, and he is very good at hitting checkdowns and getting rid of the ball quickly.
Instead, those UCLA defenders are going to have to stay alert and agile, keeping an eye on Cordeiro as a dual-threat quarterback.
Cordeiro led Hawaii in rushing yards and touchdowns last season with 483 and seven, respectively, and he is able to succeed on both designed runs and broken plays. While he doesn't get the first down on this play against Wyoming, it's still a good example of his ability to capitalize on four-man rushes and break off chunk plays with his legs.
The Bruins are going to have to make sure their contain game is as good as it's ever been, with Johnson, Jordan Genmark Heath and Qwuantrezz Knight likely taking on most of the responsibility.
Lead back Miles Reed is gone, transferring to SF Austin, but he was subpar last year with just 346 yards and 4.2 yards per carry. His departure likely means more touches for the dynamic running back/receiver hybrid Calvin Turner, who racked up 331 rushing yards on 5.5 yards per carry in addition to 546 receiving yards and 10 total touchdowns. On a per game basis, that's 97.4 yards and one touchdown per game for the former Jacksonville transfer.
Turner catches this short swing pass a yard or two past the line of scrimmage, and he uses his blazing speed and great vision to find the quickest way to the end zone from 75 yards out.
He isn't just a playmaker from scrimmage either, considering he returned a kickoff for a touchdown against Houston in the New Mexico Bowl as well.
Containing Turner will be a major priority for defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro and assistant head coach Brian Norwood. He is by no means the Rainbow Warriors' only playmaker – receivers Nick Mardner and Zion Bowens averaged 17.1 and 29.0 yards per reception in 2020 – but Turner is certainly the key.
Four of Hawaii's offensive linemen are returning starters from last year's team. The only spot that doesn't bring back its starter at center, where redshirt sophomore Kohl Levao will be stepping up. Levao is 6-foot-6, 350 pounds and would have started in the middle if not for injuries the last two years, so it isn't like he's a weak link.
That line allowed 3.1 sacks per game in 2020, however, good for 109th in the nation. Part of that can be attributed to having a mobile quarterback who tries to make plays, but it still isn't great for a team whose offense is predicated on short, quick passes. UCLA has plenty of depth, experience and mass up front, so don't be surprised if the Bruins will the matchup in the trenches.
Hawaii Defense vs. UCLA Offense
UCLA 2020 Passing Yards/Game: 224.4 yards
UCLA 2020 Rushing Yards/Game: 231.3 yards
Hawaii 2020 Passing Yards Allowed/Game: 197.1 yards
Hawaii 2020 Rushing Yards Allowed/Game: 212.3 yards
As previously mentioned, Todd Graham is a defensive-minded coach. He's been running the same defense for over a decade, and it's done him favors at many of his stops over the years.
Graham's teams play a wild, aggressive style, sending extra men into the backfield and relying on speed and surprise out of their base Tampa 2 set. That helped Graham go 46-32 in his six years at Arizona State, and while UCLA split the head-to-head with him at 3-3 in those seasons, the Bruins averaged 37.8 points per game. It isn't like UCLA has any of the personnel or coaching staff remaining from that 2012-2017 era, but it is an interesting gauge of how successful Graham's defenses are against Power Five and Pac-12 competition.
His defense didn't exactly turn in many negative plays in 2020 either, as Hawaii tied for No. 73 in the country with 2.0 sacks per game while holding a more respectable No. 39 rank with 6.7 tackles for loss per game. Keep in mind that was against zero Power Five opponents, so taking into account UCLA has an offensive line full of upperclassmen and returning starters on Power Five scholarships, this will be an even tougher challenge for the Rainbow Warriors.
The same can be said for the impressive 197.1 passing yards allowed per game last season, as arguably no quarterback Hawaii faced was as good or explosive as Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Even the Bruins' 224.4 passing yards per game is a little deflated – in the four full games and half of the Stanford game Thompson-Robinson played last year, UCLA racked up 1,120 yards through the air, or 248.9 per game. In the five games Hawaii played against teams that ended the season averaging over 200 passing yards per game, they allowed 233.4 passing yards per game.
Looking at this play against cornerback Michael Washington, he gets beat physically and hardly ever turns around to make a play on the ball. It's obviously a great catch, but not great ball skills on display by Washington either.
The rest of the Rainbow Warriors' secondary is all-around pretty solid, with Khoury Bethley and Iowa State transfer Chima Azunna set to start at safety and Cortez Davis and Cameron Lockridge set to start outside the numbers at corner. Davis was named to the All-Mountain West Second Team last year despite not recording a single interception. The rest of his teammates more than made up for that, however, as Hawaii tied for 17th in the country last season with 12 interceptions. Limiting mistakes, as always, is going to be key for Thompson-Robinson, and the stakes are high since it's clear the Rainbow Warriors know how to take advantage of them.
Far and away the best player on Hawaii's defense is linebacker Darius Muasau, who racked up 102 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, an interception and First Team All-Mountain West honors last season. He can really do it all – cover tight ends like Greg Dulcich, find holes in pass protection and chase down free runners all over the field.
Against UNLV in the regular season finale, Muasau was an absolute menace, notching season-highs with 18 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and a pass defended.
Muasau is Hawaii's best defensive player against the run, but that isn't exactly saying much.
The Rainbow Warriors got gashed on the ground in 2020, ranking outside the top 100 in rushing yards allowed per game. Teams knew they could ground and pound against Hawaii, averaging 41.9 attempts per game. Even though opponents were predictable enough to rush nearly 54% of the time, the Rainbow Warriors stilled allowed 5.1 yards per carry. Utah transfer Pita Tonga and Oklahoma transfer Zacchaeus McKinney could change that on the defensive line, but senior nose tackles Blessman Ta’ala and Justus Tavai are going to take big strides in order to make it an above average run defense.
If change isn't in the cards, keep an eye on running back Brittain Brown to put up big numbers for UCLA. In his two starts against Arizona State and Stanford last year, Brown averaged 185.5 yards per game on 20 touches per game. Michigan transfer Zach Charbonnet could also find himself racking up some solid stats Saturday, especially if the Bruins start to pull away and want to get him some more reps early on in the season.
Graham did improve the Rainbow Warriors on the defensive side of the ball in 2020, cutting their 6.4 yards per play the previous season to 5.6 and helping them leap from No. 109 to No. 51 in the country in points allowed per drive. How much of that has to do with not playing any Power Five teams is yet to be seen though, so the numbers are difficult to judge objectively.
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