UCLA vs. LSU Week 1: Scouting Report

Taking a look at what the Tigers bring to the table for their matchup with the Bruins on Saturday

The Bruins aren't the only team that brought back the vast majority of its production this year, but continuity is certainly an advantage they have over the Tigers heading into Saturday.

For one, UCLA football (1-0) already has a game under its belt, in addition to the 93% of production it returned from last season. No. 16 LSU, on the other hand, ranks No. 80 in the FBS with 74% of its production coming back for its season opener.

That does add a bit of mystery into the equation for the Bruins, as does the fact that the Tigers are bringing in two new coordinators. Coach Ed Orgeron is still the man in charge though, so his fingerprints will be all over the defense considering Daronte Jones – who actually spent the 2010 season at UCLA as a graduate assistant – has not been a play-caller before. Neither has offensive coordinator Jake Peetz, who was a defensive assistant at UCLA in 2007.

Even with the Bruin ties, it is hard to project what the Tigers' new looks are going to be this season. So going mostly off of last year's output and a few personnel reads here and there, here's a quick rundown of what LSU might look like come Saturday.

LSU Offense vs. UCLA Defense

LSU 2020 Passing Yards/Game: 312.1 yards
LSU 2020 Rushing Yards/Game: 121.7 yards
UCLA 2020 Passing Yards Allowed/Game: 274.1 yards
UCLA 2020 Rushing Yards Allowed/Game: 135.7 yards

With Myles Brennan out and Max Johnson in at quarterback to start the season, it's best to start things off by looking at how LSU called its offense with Johnson at the helm last season.

Johnson threw for 239 and 435 yards in his last two starts of 2020, completing less than 60% of his attempts in each appearance.

Standing at 6-foot-5, the immediate assumption on paper would be that Johnson is a pocket passer, but he is actually much more of a dual-threat. There were a lot of moving parts around him last year, as the Tigers tried calling a very active and up-tempo motion offense to play to Johnson's strength of getting the ball out of his hands quickly.

Johnson, a lefty, would rarely hold onto the ball for more than 2.5 seconds last season. He has the arm strength to bomb it deep, but not the accuracy or vision to hit his guys in tight windows anywhere deeper than 15 yards downfield. As a result, LSU either ran bootlegs, slants or flats for Johnson on the vast majority of his snaps.

And when his first read isn't there, Johnson has the tendency to put his head down and run, either to salvage a few yards up the middle or to break a big play to the outside.

Johnson uses his physicality and big frame to throw over pass rushers and power through tacklers near the line of scrimmage, so he has a different profile to the more shifty quarterback UCLA played a week ago in Hawaii's Chevan Cordeiro.

And like Cordeiro, Johnson takes good care of the ball, tossing just one pick on 150 pass attempts in 2020. The Bruins were able to force two interceptions and two fumbles with fiery, active and deceptive defensive looks against the Rainbow Warriors, but at least when it comes to Johnson, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who will get bullied physically and mentally the way Cordeiro did.

In the backfield, LSU returns its top-two ball-carriers from 2020 in Tyrion Davis-Price and John Emery Jr. While Emery was slightly more efficient with 5.0 yards per carry to Davis-Price's 4.3, neither set the world ablaze last year. Neither is a true receiving threat either, despite the intricate routes, screens and options run for them with Johnson in, but both possess a solid balance of vision, strength and speed at the second level.

Part of the running backs' mediocre season last year may have had to do with the fact that the Tigers lost four of their five starting offensive linemen – as well as their third tackle – from the year prior. Right tackle Austin Deculus is entering his fourth year as the starting right tackle, but everyone else on the line struggled mightily in 2020, as the unit came in at No. 58 on Pro Football Focus' offensive line rankings.

With an extra year of experience under their belts, the group of five returning starters should take a step up, especially considering the size advantage they have over UCLA.

Their average height and weight of LSU five starters is 6-foot-5, 320 pounds, while the Bruins' four defensive lineman average out to 6-foot-3.5 and 269 pounds. Although Johnson works best getting the ball out of his hands quickly, giving him any extra time could mean more targets for Kayshon Boutte.

Boutte put up 735 yards and five touchdowns as the No. 2 receiver in Baton Rouge last season, and with Terrace Marshall Jr. gone, he could put up even better numbers in 2021. In the season finale against Ole Miss, Boutte and Johnson connected for 308 yards and three touchdowns with Marshall out, and the wideout's vision, agility and route-running ability is surely going to cause UCLA some problems.

Cameron Johnson played a great game against Hawaii last week, and he's going to have to step up even more so against LSU to contain Boutte.

Working on finishing tackles behind the line of scrimmage and staying vigilant with a QB spy will also be important for the Bruins, and it will be striker Qwuantrezz Knight and linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath leading the charge on those fronts.

LSU Defense vs. UCLA Offense

UCLA 2020 Passing Yards/Game: 224.4 yards
UCLA 2020 Rushing Yards/Game: 231.3 yards
LSU 2020 Passing Yards Allowed/Game: 323.0 yards
LSU 2020 Rushing Yards Allowed/Game: 169.1 yards

The Tigers' offense was gutted by the 2020 NFL Draft and now boasts a solid amount of returning talent. Their defense, on the other hand, has gotten picked apart in each of the last two drafts.

After losing six defensive players to the NFL in 2020, LSU lost another four in 2021. They still boast a star player at every level of the defense, but the depth is a big question mark and the Tigers will be relying on multiple talented, albeit unproven, commodities.

Starting outside the numbers, cornerback Derek Stingley stands above the rest as LSU's most high-profile and dangerous defensive weapons. Even without recording an interception in 2020 – he had six in 2019 – he still deflected five passes, forced a fumble and racked up 2.5 tackles for loss.

Teams started to avoid throwing his way, and for good reason. Stingley posted the best Pro Football Focus grade of any non-quarterback player in 2019, allowing a 38% catch rate compared to the 22% of targets than ended in a pick or pass breakup. He saw two fewer targets per game in 2020, part of which probably has to do with the fact that he produces tighter coverage than nearly any corner in the country.

Stingley also shows of his 4.3-second 40-yard dash speed on punt returns, and he is the kind of all-around playmaker who can turn the tides of a game in one play.

Even with Stingley and Eli Ricks, who recorded four interceptions and five pass breakups in 2020, the Tigers still allowed over 300 yards per game through the air last season. Coverage over the middle was more of an issue for LSU, and even with a top freshman safety in Sage Ryan, it still projects to be a concern for them moving forward. Stingley missed most of fall camp with an injury, so while he is back for Saturday's game, there is a chance he's a step behind and quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson may have two or three opportunities to take advantage.

LSU leaned very heavily on man coverage a year ago, so it will be more about timing and precision for Thompson-Robinson rather than complicated reads. Ironically, he made a lot of good reads and wasted them with poor throws against Hawaii a week ago, so that surely has to chance if he is going to rebound from his 130-yard performance.

In the front seven, five seniors are set to start. Andre Anthony Jr. and Ali Gaye are good pass rushers on the outside, combining for 15.0 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks in 2020. Micah Baskerville racked up 55 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss in seven game last year, and although he took all of spring camp off, he projects to be the Tigers' leader in the middle. But with Jabril Cox, Patrick Queen and Jacob Phillips all gone from the 2019 championship linebacking corps, Baskerville and Damone Clark will have to take a step up.

Even though LSU beat Ole Miss in the season finale, the Rebels rushed for 307 yards. Two weeks prior, Alabama put up 265 rushing yards on LSU. The Tigers were easily deceived by pre-snap motion, and their overreaction to certain blocks and cuts often opened up big lanes that both Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown have proven more than capable of exploiting.

The Tigers' run defense is worse than it looks on paper, too. Mike Leach's air raid Mississippi State team rushed for just 9 yards in the 2020 season opener, so taking that out, LSU allowed 186.9 rushing yards per game. That number would bump their run defense down to No. 10 in the SEC to go along with their conference-worst pass defense, so there is certainly room for improvement there.

The talent is certainly there for the Tigers, but poor execution can dock a talented team time of possession, momentum, points and wins. They certainly bring more to the table than Hawaii did last week, so UCLA is going to have to be more creative and consistent in order to win the battle on this side of the ball.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA football stories: UCLA Football on Sports Illustrated