LOS ANGELES — After dealing with Cal running back Adam Mohammed on Saturday, the UCLA football team’s attention swings to San Diego State’s run game.
UCLA will look to stay undefeated on the young season after defeating Cal 45-24 in its season opener. San Diego State kicked off its campaign by taking down Portland State 53-20 on Saturday.
Bruins coach Bob Chesney hopes to see improvement from his defensive line after Mohammed rushed for 120 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
San Diego State senior running back Lucky Sutton ran for three touchdowns and redshirt freshman Jordin Thomas added another while the Aztecs averaged 5.6 yards per carry Saturday. Two players take snaps for San Diego State. Michigan transfer Jayden Senegal stars under center and former Central Michigan wide receiver Bert Emanuel Jr., who was a high school quarterback, leads his team’s Wildcat formation.
“They move people, and there’s a lot of gap scheme,” Chesney said. “They’re putting double teams at the point of attack and looking for that kickout block. They are keeping the ball tight, and shoulders are square as they can possibly be. We have to be able to handle that line of scrimmage up front.”
Chesney will be making his Rose Bowl debut when he leads UCLA onto the field Saturday.
“I’m looking forward to being out there, and we all know that place means a lot and the history behind it,” Chesney said. “It’s a proud moment to even be out there.”
UCLA’s offensive line found success Saturday opening holes for Anthony Woods, who rushed for 118 yards and three touchdowns, and Wayne Knight, who added 71 yards and two scores and was propelled by James Madison transfer offensive lineman Carter Sweazie.
While the Bruins had a field day churning out 277 yards on 32 carries, Chesney wants to see a consistent rotation of guards and tackles rather than having just two at each position to rely on the whole game.
“We are hoping to find a fourth if we can,” Chesney said. “You have your defensive line do it every single series, and then you ask your offensive line to be out there the entire game. No one else gets reps because your starting five has been out there the entire game. And then someone gets nicked up, and no one has experience besides your starting five. That’s by design, and that’s something that (offensive line coach Chris Smith) has been doing since 2014 at New Haven, and that’s something we’ll continue to do.”
UCLA saw success on both sides of the line of scrimmage. The Bruins averaged 8.7 yards per carry and sacked Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele three times. Depth is the question and answer for Chesney as UCLA moves forward.
“If we can rotate 15 guys through the game and there’s no drop-off, then that’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Chesney said.