UCLA offense is about to find out how well it worked out the kinks

There was some good-natured ribbing going on around the UCLA football team this week, and once again the defense scored most of the points.

During a 28-20 victory over Virginia last week, the Bruins’ defense scored three touchdowns, the offense one. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich “has been reminding me about that,” offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said.

Indeed, what was a running theme throughout the week was a lot more prominent than UCLA’s running game in the opener.

“They’ve been talking about that for a few days now,” receiver Jordan Payton said. “We have to score more touchdowns than the defense.”

The reasons for UCLA’s offensive woes were many.

The offensive line, missing two starters, dangled quarterback Brett Hundley like bait. There were dropped passes, some by normally glue-fingered receivers. There were mental gaffes that led to an afternoon of third and long.

UCLA will test the solutions against Memphis on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl before the Bruins hit the road for games against Texas and Arizona State.

Memphis has lost 17 consecutive games to teams that currently reside in the five Football Bowl Subdivision power conferences. The game is an opportunity for the Bruins’ offense to diminish Virginia as a talking point.

“If you drop passes, have foolish penalties, it doesn’t matter whose offense you’ve got, it’s hard to make a living,” Mazzone said. “To me, we were so concerned about making the big plays that we forgot to make the little plays.”

The Virginia game marked only the third time in the last 53 games that a Mazzone offense had been held to one touchdown or less. He took the blame. He gave up on the running game early — the Bruins had 116 yards rushing — and his play calling was out of sync.

UCLA found rhythm once, during a third-quarter touchdown drive that was pushed along by Hundley’s running skills. He scored on a six-yard run.

Expect more of the same against Memphis.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to take off and hope for the best,” Hundley said. “Sometimes you have to will yourself into the end zone.”

The Bruins had the will but not the way against Virginia.

“I was searching a little bit to get some momentum going, “ Mazzone said. “Then it was third and long.”

The Bruins were faced with third and eight, or longer, 11 times.

The reasons were clear:

• Seven dropped passes. “First-game jitters,” Payton said.

• Five false-start penalties. “We had six penalties on third down, which is a money down,” Coach Jim Mora said. “That’s unacceptable.”

• Five sacks. “Sometimes you overthink,” tackle Malcolm Bunche said. “It was hectic out there. There was a lot of pointing and no one was getting the right calls.”

All things that can be fixed, the Bruins said.

“I told the guys just to relax,” said Bunche, a fifth-year senior who transferred to UCLA from Miami. “We know the game plan. We know the plays. Just communicate with one another and dominate these guys.”

The sacks and penalties, though, were repeat offenses.

The Bruins were the most penalized team in the FBS the past two seasons, averaging 83 yards per game. They had 87 yards of penalties against Virginia. And Hundley has been sacked 88 times the past two seasons, more than any other quarterback on an FBS team.

Mora attributed the penalties to the up-tempo offense. “When you run a lot of plays, there is a chance you’re going to get penalized,” he said.

The sacks were another matter.

“There were times in the game where things snowballed,” offensive line coach Adrian Klemm said. “Guys started getting down on themselves and started questioning things.”

The Bruins were without center Jake Brendel, who had started 27 consecutive games. Sophomore Scott Quessenberry made his first start at center. Brendel is questionable for the Memphis game because of a sprained knee.

UCLA will again be missing Simon Goines and Conor McDermott, who were competing to start at right tackle. The Bruins started three sophomores and a first-year freshman on the line.

Still, Klemm said, “All these guys came here for a reason … they saw an opportunity to play. If that’s what you came here for, you can’t have excuses. When it’s time to play, you’ve got to be ready to go.”

Hundley said the Bruins were ready to go, and pointed to the destination.

“The name of the game is getting in the end zone,” he said.

Follow Chris Foster on Twitter @cfosterlatimes