Bruin Offense Seeks Freedom

Good news, UCLA football fans. The Bruin offense, at least statistically, is no longer the worst in the country. The Bruins moved up to 116th among 117 Division I-A teams with an average of 239.33 total yards in three games, a full foot better than last-place Southern Methodist, which averages 239.0 yards a game.

With UCLA on such a roll, top-ranked Oklahoma -- and Saturday’s 59-24 loss to the Sooners -- in the rearview mirror, and a more manageable opponent on the horizon in San Diego State, could this be the week Bruin Coach Karl Dorrell takes the shackles off an offense that has seemed far more conservative than creative?

“I would love to see this offense get a little more in-depth,” UCLA quarterback Drew Olson said Monday. “Even though we haven’t been as successful as we want to be, I think guys are ready to do more.”

So does junior receiver Craig Bragg, who caught 10 passes for 87 yards against Oklahoma, with six of those going for six yards or less and most providing no opportunity to run after the catch, a phase of the game Bragg and fellow receiver Junior Taylor excelled at last season.

“There’s stuff in the playbook, but it isn’t in the [game plan] right now,” Bragg said. “We’ve been trying to take what the defense gives us. As far as mixing in more screen passes, things like that, right now we’re trying to work on the base offense, having the quarterback and the offense get comfortable with that.

“As for me, personally, I always feel ready to take on more. From week to week there are plays that we put in that are different from the week before. I’m sure if the coaches think they’ll work, they’ll put them in.”

In three games, a 16-14 loss to Colorado, a 6-3 victory over Illinois and Saturday’s loss at Oklahoma, the UCLA ground game has consisted almost exclusively of Tyler Ebell and Manuel White running between the tackles -- no pitch plays, very few draw plays and misdirection.

The Bruins have taken an all-or-nothing approach to the passing game, throwing quick outs to the sideline and long bombs down field but little in between. There have been few midrange passes over the middle and no screen passes to the wide receivers.

This West Coast offense that Dorrell brought to Westwood, the one that made Bruin receivers’ eyes light up, seems to have its origins on the west bank ... of Lake Michigan. In three games, UCLA has looked more like those lumbering Big Ten teams of yore.

The Bruins would like to go West.

“There are some things we put in during spring and fall practice, a couple of packages that we still haven’t gone to a lot in games,” Olson said. “But with the teams coming up [on the schedule] I think the coaches will implement some different schemes, some different route packages, things they didn’t think we could use against Oklahoma.... I think to get this offense going we need to complete those 10- and 20-yard passes and make some big plays.”

Not so fast, kid. Dorrell still seems a little reluctant to throw too much into the game plan too soon.

“It’s great the quarterback is feeling good about expanding the offense,” Dorrell said. “We’ll do what we think in our best judgment is best for Drew and the offense. Drew has the kind of attitude you want, particularly from your leader, and I’ll tell you this -- we’ll accommodate him as much as we can as long as we don’t overload him.”

Dorrell maintains that his game plans have been predicated on the opponent. The long pass was there against Colorado, so the Bruins went deep. Oklahoma played 10 yards off UCLA receivers most of the time, so the Bruins went short. Against Illinois, UCLA dropped so many passes it couldn’t mount much of an offense at all.

Dorrell would like to get Bragg and Taylor in position to be more productive after catching the ball. He would like to throw more screen and swing passes to backs and diversify the ground game. But these things take time.

“I think the offense is getting better every week,” Dorrell said.

“Is it at a level where we’re ready to make a huge step? I don’t know. That’s something that will come with continuous effort and attention to detail. I’m sure that will happen at some point, hopefully as soon as this week.

“But it’s a gradual thing. It’s not going to be something that lights up the scoreboard when everyone understands the offense. But they’ll see at a certain point, where everything clicks, and they’ll say, ‘Oh, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.’ ”