UCLA’s O-line finally is coming together to fix Bruins’ biggest weakness on offense

UCLA offensive line coach Hank Fraley believes in what he calls a fist mentality, five linemen curling together as one to form a more powerful entity.

Those lineman delivered several body blows to the Arizona defense Saturday, and the Bruins ran the ball the best they have this season. There were also some self-inflicted wounds.

UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen was sacked five times, more than he had been the previous four games combined. Rosen strayed outside the pocket on one play against the Wildcats and probably should have thrown the ball away, but the other sacks were largely because of protection breakdowns that led to unblocked defenders.

Fraley said Arizona ran some stunts that the Bruins had trouble picking up, an issue they intend to fix before playing Oregon on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

“Hopefully we can clean it up this week,” Fraley said.

The Bruins don’t need to change much when it comes to their run blocking. Center Scott Quessenberry, guards Michael Alves and Najee Toran and tackles Andre James and Kolton Miller helped open the holes for a season-high 190 yards rushing, the most by the Bruins since they ran for 219 against Nevada Las Vegas early last season.

“It was not cleanly blocked all the time,” Fraley said, “but if you run hard like that, good things can happen.”

UCLA’s run blocking has been considerably better than last season, though there’s still room for improvement. The Bruins’ rushing offense is averaging 127.5 yards per game, ranking No. 102 in the country. The team has averaged 4.4 yards per carry after averaging 2.9 in 2016.

“I gotta give it to the O-line for working their [rear end] off throughout the whole offseason and through these first games,” tailback Bolu Olorunfunmi said Saturday after running for a career-high 102 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.2 yards per carry.

Fraley said Miller has been particularly strong the past three games after rounding into form following a lengthy layoff; Miller missed the final seven games last season with a foot injury.

“If you really break down the film, he’s really trying to finish plays down field, put guys on the ground,” Fraley said. “Our job is to block them [and] if you can put them on the ground, put them on the ground.”

The continuity among UCLA’s offensive linemen has been so good that coach Jim Mora said he did not plan to start right tackle Sunny Odogwu, a highly regarded graduate transfer from Miami who recently was cleared to play.

Fraley said Odogwu and fellow reserve Poasi Moala push their teammates in practice.

“Anybody that’s not starting right now is always trying to get in there,” Fraley said.

His father’s son

Austin Roberts receives some valuable fatherly advice each week.

His father, Alfredo, is the running backs coach for the Chargers who played tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Dallas Cowboys. The elder Roberts gave his son tips on positioning after his first game as UCLA’s featured tight end last week in the wake of Caleb Wilson’s season-ending foot injury.

“I felt like I had an OK performance,” said Austin Roberts, who caught one pass for 28 yards. “Being a coach’s son, I’m very critical of myself, and there were some things that I kind of left on the field. Namely, from the effort standpoint. I would do my job but I wouldn’t kind of make the extra push to run down the field and try to get a guy off our running back or just making sure that the play is secure. So just got to do a better job with that.”

Two other Bruins also have fathers who are NFL coaches. Wilson’s father, Chris, coaches defensive linemen for the Philadelphia Eagles and defensive back Quentin Lake’s father, Carnell, coaches defensive backs for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Throwback prices

UCLA is offering $19.67 tickets for the Oregon game in honor of former Bruins quarterback Gary Beban, the 1967 Heisman Trophy winner who will be honored during the game. They can be purchased at uclabruins.com/tickets.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch