Ohio State Faces Underrated Test Against UCLA

At 3-6 with an interim head coach, UCLA is not on anyone’s radar. After upsetting Penn State to kick off a three-game win streak, the Bruins have come back down to Earth with a pair of losses. While UCLA has struggled with several areas this year, there is one area in which the Bruins have performed fairly well to this point. Oddly enough, their strength is set to go head-to-head with Ohio State’s.

Did you know, heading into this game, UCLA has the 27th-best passing defense in the country? In terms of the Big Ten, it is eighth, speaking to the strength of the conference. However, the Buckeyes’ passing attack has been as efficient as any in the game, led by a pair of Heisman Trophy candidates.

Ohio State Faces Underrated Test Against UCLA

#WeSayinHeisman

Before the Purdue game last week, Ohio State launched a Heisman campaign for its quarterback and star wide receiver. Julian Sayin has been phenomenal to this point in his first season quarterbacking the Buckeyes. There are a lot of bold numbers on Sayin’s Sports Reference page. Nationally, he leads the way with a ridiculous 80.7% completion percentage. He’s not just a dink-and-dunk quarterback, either. To this point, he hasn’t missed when launching the deep ball. This year, Sayin is 18-of-25 for 787 yards and nine touchdowns on passes over 20 yards.

He also leads the Big Ten with 203 completions, a 192.6 quarterback rating, and 9.9 yards per attempt.

Sayin has been ramping up the pressure over the last month, and Brian Hartline will likely try to ride Sayin to victory on Saturday night. Over his first six games, Sayin went over 30 attempts just once. Over his last three, Sayin has gone over 30 attempts twice, highlighted by 42 in the win over Wisconsin.

UCLA’s defense has held quarterbacks in check this year. The Bruins’ season high passing yards allowed came two games ago against Indiana, with just 215. Sayin is averaging 277 yards per game with six games of over 300 yards.

Stats May Be Misleading

Overall, UCLA has done well against the pass. However, opposing offenses haven’t had to throw the ball nearly as much. Bruin opponents have averaged 26 attempts per game. However, that total is inflated by two games with 35 and 48 passes. In those seven other games, opponents only threw it 21.7 times.

UCLA did well to defend Maryland when the Terps threw it 48 times. At the same time, last week, the Bruins were beaten by an efficient effort from true freshman TJ Lateef from Nebraska. It was the first time UCLA allowed greater than 10 yards per attempt. Lateef finished with 205 yards and three touchdowns off 13-of-15 passing.

Sayin can be considered better than Lateef; that’s not outlandish to say. Ohio State’s passing attack is starting to really hit its stride. Overall, UCLA has a formidable secondary. It responded well to Indiana. The difference may be that the Buckeyes’ rushing attack isn’t quite as good as Indiana’s.

Run to Pass

To this point in the season, Ohio State’s run game hasn’t been quite up to standard. This year, the Buckeyes are averaging 155.1 yards per game on the ground. Part of it is due to Ryan Day shortening the game in an effort to keep players fresh. It’s working, but the margin for error in the run game is almost non-existent. Every unsuccessful run puts the offense in a tougher spot. The Buckeyes are averaging under two yards per carry before contact, highlighting the issues with the offensive line. At the same time, they are earning just under three yards per carry after contact.