What to make of Week 1’s loss

Well it was fun at times but the fun we had with the offense scoring 28 second-half points was ultimately thwarted by the fact that the UCLA Bruins defensive unit struggled to stop anything the Colorado Buffaloes were doing on Saturday.

When taking a look at it now that the dust has settled, the 48-42 outcome could’ve been much worse.

Two of UCLA’s touchdowns were coverage or run-lane lapses for Colorado including QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s 65-yard touchdown run to start the third quarter. The other was clearly an all-out blitz near the end of the first half that saw tight end Greg Dulcich running free and wide open for a 52-yard touchdown reception.

Take away those two lapses against a better defense, or better-coached unit, and you’ve got a team who largely loses a game by a much-wider margin.

And a team who gets outgained offensively and outplayed defensively in just about every facet.

Colorado dominated the time of possession nearly two to one and Colorado was seemingly only stopped by itself on Saturday night.

The UCLA coverage unit allowed a quarterback making his first start (and seeing his first action at the position since 2018) to complete 20-of-31 passes for 257 yards and a touchdown. Noyer made some tight-window throws but for the most part, had wide-open lanes to throw to, especially down the middle of the field where UCLA’s coverage was pretty sloppy.

Outside of a couple plays on the ball from linebackers, no outside cornerback made a pass breakup or an interception on the evening.

Noyer was allowed to complete 16-of-23 passes for 206 yards and his touchdown all on passes in between the numbers.

Overall for UCLA on defense, PFF credits them with 17 missed tackles on the night. That’s poor, even by poor-tackling standards.

So what do we make of the Week 1 loss for UCLA? Honestly, it’s easy. It’s just more of the same. The same old same old. The same Chip Kelly. The same lost offensive scheme. The same Chip Kelly. The same struggling quarterback. The same season-opening loss. The same Chip Kelly.

The same Chip Kelly.

The same Chip Kelly.

Perhaps something needs to change.

And that’s what to make of Week 1.