UCLA Football: Running Game Goes Under Microscope After Utes Setback

After suffering their first loss of the young 2023 NCAA football season, your UCLA Bruins are no doubt undergoing plenty of self-reflection this week. 

There were plenty facets of UCLA's normally impressive two-way attack that looked fairly lackluster in the team's 14-7 defeat against the Utah Utes, their first Pac-12 inter-conference matchup of the year.

As Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times notes, though the club's star running backs Carson Steele and T.J. Harden handled North Carolina Central, San Diego State and Coastal Carolina pretty easily, the same could not be said for their performance against Utah's defense.

"The Bruins’ nine yards rushing — on a minuscule 0.3 yards per carry — were their fewest under Kelly and their fewest in any game since they finished with minus-one yard against Arizona State in 2016," Bolch writes.

"Taking away Utah’s seven sacks, UCLA generated 67 rushing yards. Carson Steele gained 29 yards in 11 carries. T.J. Harden gained 31 yards in 11 carries and compounded his hard day by dropping a low line-drive pass on third down early in the fourth quarter," Bolch continues. "[Head coach Chip] Kelly said part of the problem was his team falling behind 12 seconds into the game, forcing it to throw more than it would have otherwise."

"With the running game unable to find its footing, the Bruins had six three-and-outs in their first nine drives," Bolch concludes. "They also struggled on third downs, converting just three of 16 (18.7%) for their worst conversion rate under Kelly since they converted one of 10 during a loss to Fresno State in 2018."

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