Missing Tackles Is Still a Problem

UCLA’s inconsistent tackling was a problem in the Bruins’ season opening loss to Oklahoma State and it’s still a major issue heading into this week’s game at Oregon.

“We had 21 missed tackles,” safety Jarrad Page said about the Bruins in their 31-29 loss to Washington State on Saturday. “It wasn’t as if people weren’t playing hard. It just seemed that sometimes ... we were getting to places too fast and overran the ballcarrier and he would cut back. We have to be more sure tacklers because if you don’t tackle on defense, you’re not going to be able to stop anybody.”

Anytime a team misses more than 10 tackles, it usually means that it did not have a good defensive game. For the Bruins, anytime they’ve had fewer than 10 missed tackles, it has been reason to celebrate this season.

In the week after shutting out Stanford, 21-0, the Bruins did not practice in full pads. They wore shorts, shoulder pads and helmets for three practices and then struggled with tackling fundamentals against Washington State.

Page, however, said the lack of hitting in practice was not a factor on Saturday.

“I don’t think that played into it at all,” he said. “That’s not what hurt us. We just had some problems that happened in the game.

“I watched tape of the game and ... people were flying around, giving effort. It just did not seem like we were having fun. We need to play excited.”

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With two games left, the Bruins (5-4) still need a victory to become bowl eligible. Coach Karl Dorrell said adversity is something his team is familiar with because of previous experiences this season.

“After particular setbacks that we’ve had before, we’ve responded,” he said. “That’s one thing I’m expecting from our team this week with the tremendous challenge of going up to Eugene and winning.”

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Sophomore running back Maurice Drew, who suffered an injured right ankle early against Washington State, is listed as day-to-day but is not likely to play at Oregon, according to Dorrell. The coach said Drew’s injury was significant and that redshirt freshman Derrick Williams would move up to No. 3 on the depth chart if Drew was unable to play.... Junior tight end Marcedes Lewis, who sat out the second half on Saturday because of a bruised tailbone, was expected to practice this week and play against Oregon.... Dorrell said that he expects center Mike McCloskey, who did not play against Washington State because of post-concussion symptoms, to play against Oregon, but he has yet to be cleared to return to practice by team doctors.... UCLA is giving up 441.8 yards a game. The next closest team to the Bruins is Stanford, which gives up 56 fewer yards.