What we learned about UCLA in its 44-30 win over Washington

UCLA won its ninth game in a row on the road in a 44-30 win over Washington. The live blog can be found here, and here what’s we learned about the Bruins in the win:

If Brett Hundley can replicate his Saturday performance, UCLA is in a good place

Was Washington’s secondary decimated by injuries and suspensions? Yes. No doubt about that.

But Hundley was as accurate as he’s been all season. He had a real pocket presence, taking only one sack and stepping up in the pocket instead of taking off and running. He completed 29 of his 36 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns, and also ran for two scores on the ground. Most importantly, he didn’t have a single turnover.

Hundley has had an up and down season. He’s been accurate one week, then relies on his running ability because he’s so inconsistent the next. But whatever Hundley did to fix his accuracy issues and improve his pocket presence worked for the Bruins on Saturday. Hundley is a special talent because of his ability as a running quarterback, but UCLA’s offense is incredibly dangerous when Hundley throws the ball like he did on Saturday.

Penalties? What penalties?

UCLA went into this game averaging 8.2 penalties per game, good for 114th in the country in avoiding penalties. On Saturday, they had none at halftime and finished the game with just four. One of those was offensive pass interference on Devin Lucien, a call that was poor at best.

The Bruins will take four penalties per game. They should be thrilled with four penalties per game. It’s about discipline, but it’s also about preparation. Whatever Coach Jim Mora had his team do in practice this week needs to be the norm for the rest of the season. The Bruins can’t afford games where they have 11 penalties for 118 yards, like they did against Arizona. Saturday needs to be the blueprint.

Fabian Moreau is back

We all know the story by now. Moreau was hyped up in training camp, and really struggled the first two months of the season. He’s rebounded in his last two games, though, and he looked every bit the part of that hyped-up cornerback Saturday. He recorded four tackles and a pass breakup, and his late interception sealed the win.

It wasn’t just the stats — Moreau has just looked different recently. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said this week that sometimes confidence can be an issue with cornerbacks. Once the swagger returns, so does the player.

Moreau’s got his swagger back, and UCLA is all the better for it. Alongside Anthony Jefferson, Moreau is going to make it hard for opponents to get anything going through the air against UCLA.

What else can you say about Myles Jack?

His 28-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was absolutely ridiculous. He broke three tackles, and somehow managed to stay on his feet down the sideline. I looked down at my computer because I assumed he was out of bounds. Physics dictates that Jack should have fallen out of bounds. He didn’t.

I don’t know if we learned anything about Jack. We’ve always known how freakishly athletic he can be. Saturday was just another example. What a play, and what a player.

The Bruins need to get Kenneth Walker III the ball more

Walker doesn’t have the best hands on the team, but man, is he fast. On UCLA’s second touchdown of the game, Walker ran a simple cross route. The route was nothing special, but Walker is fast enough that it didn’t matter. There wasn’t a Washington defender within 10 yards of him, and even though Hundley underthrew him, Walker waltzed into the end zone.

Earlier in the week, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said that he wanted to get Walker five or six plays against the Huskies. The wideout only got one, but it was a big one.

It’s rare to find game-changing speed like that. Even if Walker doesn’t have the most reliable hands on the team, it’s worth running a few specific plays for him each game.