Can UCLA recapture that fun feeling? Five things

Well, it was fun while it lasted … wait, it’s not over?

There’s one way or the other at least 4 video games left in a UCLA soccer season that feels prefer it’s already exhausted its story arc and run out of acts.

Act I: The fall of a proud Bruin.

Act II: The rise of a proud (Fresno State) Bulldog-turned-Bruin.

Act III: A 50-point implosion that sucked the air out of the season and didn’t please any Bruin.

What’s left after an 0-4 start that included the firing of a coach adopted by a three-game profitable streak and a 56-6 loss to one of the nation’s top groups? Somehow, there’s still at least a third of a season to go.

A victory over Nebraska on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl might primarily put the Bruins proper back where they have been a few weeks in the past, giving interim coach Tim Skipper another probability to reclaim the hearts of the faculty soccer world with an upset of top-ranked Ohio State the next weekend.

But first they’ve to get past a Cornhusker crew lacking its greatest kernel. Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola is out for the season with a damaged leg, forcing the crew to flip to a true freshman who was throwing passes for Orange Lutheran High this time last yr.

Don’t count on TJ Lateef or any of his teammates to stroll into the Rose Bowl waving a white flag.

“It would just be so average to go out there and be like, well, we’ve got a freshman quarterback and it is what it is,” Nebraska coach Matt Rhule told reporters this week. “Like, no, we’re not doing that. We’ve got TJ Lateef and we’re going to rally around him.”

Here are 5 things to watch when the Bruins (3-5 general, 3-2 Big Ten) face the Cornhuskers (6-3, 3-3) in a recreation that begins at 6 p.m. PST and shall be televised by Fox:

Quarterback quandary

Lateef is about to turn out to be just the fourth true freshman quarterback to start a recreation for Nebraska since 1950.

Will or not it’s a efficiency for the ages?

Lateef didn’t wow in reduction of Raiola last weekend against USC. He accomplished 5 of seven passes as the Trojans rallied for a 21-17 victory, those completions going for a grand complete of seven yards — 1.4 yards per completion. Lateef may be more harmful as a runner than a passer, having averaged 4.5 yards and scored two touchdowns in his 11 carries.

Skipper said the Bruins would watch Lateef’s high faculty recreation footage to get a fuller understanding of his potential.

“We know we’re going to get some unscouted looks, unscouted plays,” Skipper said. “I’m sure there’s things that he does well that they’re gonna want to do that they haven’t really shown. He kind of had to do the game plan and scheming that they had up for Dylan and his reps [against USC], so we’ll have to adjust as the game goes.”

On the other hand . . .

Nebraska’s uncertainty at quarterback seemingly means more alternative for its working recreation.

And the Cornhuskers have a good one.

Emmett Johnson has already topped 100 yards speeding in 5 video games this season, totaling 1,002 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground. Against USC, he ran for 165 yards and a landing while averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

“We’re going to need to know where he is at all times,” Skipper said. “He does a great job of just making people miss, I’m really impressed by how he plays. You know, I come from a family of running back coaches, and I’ve watched a lot of backs, and he’s one of the top guys I’ve ever seen.”

Another mantra

Skipper might keep a customized T-shirt store busy with all his slogans.

He’s told his gamers to pressure. He’s requested them whether or not they have been one-hit wonders. He’s implored them to uphold the usual they’d established.

Over the 2 weeks that adopted his crew’s 56-6 loss to Indiana, he’s delivered a new message.

“We’re just getting back to the basics,” Skipper said. “It’s about fundamentals and little details. That’s kind of been what we’ve been really preaching.”

Linebacker Jalen Woods said a lot of time has been spent on tackling after the crew skilled vital slippage in that space against the Hoosiers. Offensive sort out Garrett DiGiorgio said gamers ran between drills to quicken the tempo of the whole lot they have been doing.

With an further week to put together for the Cornhuskers after a bye, the Bruins have tried not to let the frustration they skilled in their last recreation linger.

“Don’t let it carry over into the next game,” Woods said of the crew’s collective mindset.

A line redrawn

Eugene Brooks celebrates a UCLA landing against Penn State.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

UCLA guard Eugene Brooks was back at observe this week, a vital development for an offensive line that had struggled in his absence.

The Bruins ran for just 88 yards — 60 by working backs — and allowed three sacks with Brooks sidelined against Indiana.

It seems they’ll be back at full strength against a Nebraska protection that’s permitting only 289.9 yards per recreation, rating No. 13 nationally.

Skipper said the Cornhuskers create confusion utilizing a number of defensive fronts with hybrid gamers who either rush the quarterback or drop into coverage.

“They’re going to create a lot of havoc that way with the people that they use,” Skipper said. “They create a lot of turnovers. They’re very good on third down. They don’t give up big plays in the passing game. They’re really good at keeping people in front of them.”

Another increase

Running back Anthony Woods also returned to observe after lacking the Indiana recreation.

His skill to run the ball and catch passes out of the backfield might help an offense that didn’t rating a landing for the first time this season when it confronted the Hoosiers.

Running back Jalen Berger said the success UCLA had on the ground during its three-game profitable streak, when it averaged 236.7 yards speeding per recreation, was largely a consequence of an elevated emphasis on its ballcarriers.

“I’d say it’s more of a commitment,” Berger said of an strategy the Bruins had to abandon after falling behind big against Indiana. “Just being run-first, you know?”