UCLA's bright spots and blight spots

From the NCAA's weekly football stat report ...

Bright spots:

• UCLA ranks No. 2 nationally in pass defense (158.45 ypg)
• UCLA ranks No. 16 nationally (No. 2 in Pac-10) in kickoff returns (24.1 ypa)
• Kai Forbath ranks No. 5 nationally (No. 1 in Pac-10) in field goals (1.73 per game)
• Aaron Perez ranks No. 7 nationally (No. 1 in Pac-10)  in punting (44.47 ypa)
• Terrence Austin ranks No. 12 nationally in all-purpose yards (163.82 per game)

Blight spots:

• UCLA ranks No. 116 nationally in rushing offense (86 ypg)
• UCLA ranks No. 114 nationally in sacks allowed (3.18 per game)
• UCLA ranks No. 110 nationally in total offense (294.73 ypg)
• UCLA ranks No. 110 nationally in turnover margin (-1.00)

Interpretation:

The Bruins' special teams are excellent (remember, that's where Austin gets some of his yards). Kickers tend to be the hero or the goat, but neither Forbath nor Perez have really been put in a position to be a hero this year. You would have noticed if they were responsible for something going wrong, of course. Safe to say those guys are under-appreciated.

The offensive line is a huge area of concern when it comes to the lack of rushing offense and sacks allowed. No surprise there.

The passing offense is a nice surprise. A cynic might say that teams are having success running the ball (UCLA is ranked 86th in rush defense) and focus on the ground game instead. That's not necessarily a fair assessment. Credit the consistent secondary (four players started every single game this year, except once — Lockett was suspended for the season opener) and some pressure up front from guys such as Price and Harwell.

—Adam Rose

Comments

[unknown]

That's actually not true. Forbath won the game for UCLA when they played Tennessee

[BruinFanInLA]

not true! forbath made the winning fg in the Tennessee game

[Adam Rose]

Very true -- Forbath came up clutch in over time against Tennessee. In fact, UCLA's offense didn't move the ball in the extra period, but he was able to hit the field goal from the initial spot. He was certainly a hero on that day.

Unfortunately, despite having an outstanding season, he wasn't put in a position to do it in more games.