UCLA Football Preview: Kansas State Offensive Preview

This is a Bill Snyder type of offense, they never turn the ball over (just 11 times all season, 2nd in the FBS), they are mostly experienced players that have developed leaps and bounds from where they were as high school or junior college players, they are balanced and efficient with the running and passing game, and, most importantly, they will come up with a good game-plan to attack the weaknesses of the defense they're facing.

Let's look closer

Rushing Offense

The Kansas State running game is a three-headed attack with 3 players having over 100 rushing attempts and over 430 yards rushing.

The lead running back (if you can call him that) is 5'10", 197 pound sophomore Charles Jones, with 521 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns on 124 attempts. That's not an overly impressive yards per carry at a steady 4.2 YPC, but Jones is a solid back.

The other running back in the trio is senior DeMarcus Robinson, who has produced 436 yards and 4 touchdowns on 106 attempts. Robinson is a short, stocky runner at 5'7" but weighing 209 pounds.

Expect to see both backs throughout the game unless one is particularly effective, in which case the Wildcats tend to ride the hot hand like an intelligent offense does.

The third element of their rushing attack is quarterback Jake Waters, who has 471 yards and 8 touchdowns (he's actually their leading rusher since he's gained 593 yards if you take away the sacks from his rushing total the way stats should be recorded). But we will touch on Waters more in the section related to the passing game.

They also feature a fullback in their offense with a hugely recognizable last name because Glenn Gronkowski is the younger brother of All-Pro TE Rob Gronkowski and he also has another brother who's been in and out of the NFL. You will not see Gronkowski do much more than lead block and kick out in this game, but the fullback does get a ton of snaps in this offense.

Offensive Line

The starters from the Wildcats' last game against Baylor were from left tackle to right tackle:

Junior left tackle Cody Whitehead (6'4", 309), who has started all 12 games this season and 25 out of the last 26.

Junior left guard Boston Stiverson (6'4", 312), who has also started all 12 games this season and also the final 4 games of 2013.

Senior center BJ Finney  (6'4", 303), who has also started all 12 games this season and has started 39 straight games for the Wildcats, garnering a ton of awards over his time on the Wildcats. Also been a 3-year team captain.

Junior right guard Luke Hayes (6'6", 295), who has started the last 11 games in 2014 and played in all 12 after transferring from Butler Community College.

Junior right tackle Matt Kleinsorg (6'5", 306), who started all 12 games this season.

This is a line that has played a ton of snaps as a unit this season and has a lot of experience overall. Learned from a great developer of talent and on-field coach. They do not make a ton of mistakes, but UCLA has a physical talent advantage at every spot in the front-seven.

5* talent should beat heaps of experience almost every talent. Especially if that 5* talent has even a semblance of effective coaching.

Passing Offense

Senior quarterback Jake Waters has had a solid season throwing 20 touchdowns, rushing for 8 more and throwing just 6 interceptions. He's completed 66.2% of his passes for 3163 passing yards.

This is a damn explosive offense though, as Waters ranks 5th in the NCAA in yards per attempt at 9.06 yards.

The biggest reasons for that are senior wide receivers Tyler Lockett and Curry Sexton.

Lockett is the star. He holds the majority of Kansas State offensive records, as well as the punt and kick return records. In 2014, he's put up a phenomenal season. He's had 1351 yards receiving and 9 touchdowns on 93 catches. He's not a big wideout, standing at 5'11" and weighing 175 pounds. From what I've watched of Lockett both of those numbers seem generous.

Quick, elusive, and able to beat defenders deep in 1-on-1 situations. He's a special talent that will be fun to watch against UCLA's defensive backs.

Sexton is a simliar sized wideout at 5'11" and 183 pounds. He's put up 955 yards on 69 receptions, also catching 5 TD passes.

Go Bruins!