Eddie Vanderdoes’ knee appears to be OK; it’s the rest of UCLA’s defense that’s raising concerns

UCLA’s interior defensive line received the news it wanted Sunday after an evaluation of tackle Eddie Vanderdoes’ left knee appeared to reveal only a mild injury.

Vanderdoes was sidelined in the second quarter of the Bruins’ 42-21 victory over Nevada Las Vegas on Saturday at the Rose Bowl and did not return. On Sunday, he tweeted, “My knee is completely fine. Nothing more [than] a minor strain.”

Meanwhile, answers remained frustratingly elusive for the rest of the Bruins’ defense.

Can they stop the run after making it the focus of their off-season? Do they need to blitz more? Will their defensive ends be able to apply any pressure?

The two-game sample isn’t encouraging. UNLV averaged 5.0 yards per carry against UCLA, the same average accrued by Texas A&M a week earlier. The Bruins have had difficulty stopping running backs and quarterbacks alike, with the Rebels’ Johnny Stanton repeatedly hurting them on quarterback draws.

“It’s something we have to get a handle on,” UCLA defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said after the game. “Once again, a lot of it has to do with the quarterback running the football; that’s given us some problems. So we just have to keep working on it as hard as we can and hopefully we’ll get that thing solved.”

Equally troublesome is the lack of a pass rush. The Bruins haven’t blitzed much and recorded a combined three tackles for loss and one sack in their first two games. Part of the problem has been the absence of defensive ends Takkarist McKinley and Deon Hollins, who have played sparingly because of injuries.

Another potential issue is the lack of designed pressure, though Bradley said he didn’t want to overuse blitzes because it could lead to counters that exploit the aggressiveness.

“You always want to try to be balanced in what you do and why you’re doing it,” Bradley said. “I think sometimes what happens is you get one behind. They get ahead of you by one.”

UNLV also was able to sustain drives with relative ease, converting eight of 12 third downs before UCLA finally made the handful of stops it needed in the fourth quarter. The Rebels finished eight for 15 on third-down conversions and two for three on fourth downs.

At least the Bruins avoided what would have been a deflating personnel loss had Vanderdoes been seriously hurt, particularly on the eve of games against Brigham Young on Saturday and Stanford on Sept. 24.

“Eddie’s a great guy for us, he’s going to do great things for us,” Bruins linebacker Kenny Young said, “and we have to have him back for these next two weeks we have coming up.”

Let’s move it

UCLA’s offense has settled into one jarring pattern in its first two games. Well, besides all the dropped passes.

The Bruins have been unable to move the ball in the third quarter.

They scored in every quarter except the third against both Texas A&M and UNLV. There was some progress Saturday, albeit minimal. After gaining two first downs (one by penalty) and 24 yards in the third quarter against the Aggies, UCLA collected three first downs and 48 yards in the same quarter against the Rebels.

Bruins Coach Jim Mora sounded like he was on the verge of an exhaustive search for a solution.

“You start with plays that you’re giving them,” Mora said. “Are you teaching them the right techniques, are they executing, are we giving them a chance to do the things they do well or asking them to do things they can’t do? Then maybe we have to change our halftime a little bit, but we’ll look at all those things so we can come out and be better in the third quarter.”

Starter shuffle

There were three changes to the Bruins’ starting lineup against UNLV. Najee Toran started instead of Poasi Moala at guard, Josh Woods made his first career start at linebacker and Adarius Pickett replaced safety Jaleel Wadood.

Toran and Pickett started because of injuries to teammates and Woods got the start in a nod to his vast potential.

“This young man has really developed,” Mora said of the sophomore. “He’s got a lot of talent and the only way we’re really going to get him to realize that talent is get him playing time in a game.”

Times staff writer Jesse Dougherty contributed to this report.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch