UCLA football interim head coach Tim Skipper knows the Washington Huskies’ first priority is to stop the run. The Bruins have had some success on the ground this year, but it hasn’t been consistent. Even with the inconsistencies, Skipper and the Bruins seem dead set on continuing to establish the rushing attack.
It will be strength versus strength on Saturday
Since the start of Big Ten play, UCLA ranks fifth in the conference with 165 rushing yards per game. The Washington defense has allowed the fourth-fewest yards on the ground at 109.8 rushing yards per game. Whichever strength has the upper-hand on Saturday will go a long way to determine the winner.
UCLA’s rushing offense has slowed down but for good reason
UCLA has put up 104.3 rushing yards per game over their three-game losing streak which isn’t too bad when you consider that they faced the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country in that span. Skipper says that the Bruins have been seeing a lot of loaded boxes to stuff the run and he doesn’t expect that to change on Saturday against the Huskies.
Washington will play man coverage and focus on stopping the run
“The box is loaded. Washington is going to load the box too. They’ve been that way every game, they play a ton of man,” Skipper said. “They’re going to stop the run, they dedicate everything to it. We’ve played some very,very, very good defenses at stopping the run, that’s the first thing I’ll say, those boxes are loaded up.”
Nico Iamaleava plays a huge role in the success of the UCLA rushing attack
Those loaded boxes become even tougher without your starting quarterback, which UCLA was against Ohio State. Skipper said on Monday that Nico Iamaleava remains day-to-day but if Iamaleava is able to go for the Bruins on Saturday it will be a huge boon for the UCLA rushing attack, with Iamaleava leading the team in rushing this season.
Skipper and the Bruins don’t plan on changing anything against Washington
“You got to keep on pounding, you got to keep on blocking, got to keep moving your feet and pushing piles forward and eventually they break,” Skipper said. “We’re not going away from that. We’re going to try and continue to keep winning in the trenches.”
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Tim Skipper and UCLA Bruins will keep attacking loaded boxes on the ground
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
