Josh Rosen needs help if UCLA hopes to rebound after Memphis loss
If UCLA still has an opportunity at the Pac-12 title, more than just Josh Rosen is needed.
For the past few years, UCLA’s spotlight has been on quarterback Josh Rosen. He’s one of the top quarterback prospects for the 2018 NFL Draft and is the face of the Bruins. When he doesn’t play well, the team fails.
In Saturday’s game against Memphis, Rosen delivered a quality performance. He threw for 463 yards and four touchdowns, which sounds like the leader of the winning team, right? That wasn’t the case, as UCLA fell to Memphis, 48-45.
A closer look at Rosen’s numbers shows that, while he had a prolific passing day, the team relied on him too much. He had an absurd 56 passing attempts, two of which went for interceptions. The ones that came late in the game were poorly thrown, as the offensive line didn’t provide a great pocket and led to throws like the one that forced a UCLA wide receiver to force an offensive pass interference.
It turned Rosen’s day upside down, with the coaching staff relying on his arm to keep the team in the game. The defense isn’t in the clear, either, which allowed six passing touchdowns to Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson and kept them in the game from start to finish.
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This wasn’t the first defensive blemish of the season, either. Despite the 56-23 blowout win over Hawai’i, the front-seven was crushed by 281 rushing yards allowed. Rosen was nearly perfect, however, with 22 of 25 passes completed for five touchdowns.
To top it off, the Texas A&M running game put up 382 yards in Week 1. Late-game heroics from Rosen brought the team back in a 28-point fourth-quarter comeback effort. He finished with 491 passing yards on 59 attempts, while the running game had just 63 yards on 25 attempts.
It’s essentially been The Josh Rosen Show at UCLA, with the running game not providing him any substantial favors and the defense not showing up. Being a one-man show isn’t a recipe for success, and will only doom the Bruins as the season progresses.
Games against No. 19 Stanford and No. 6 Washington are approaching. It’s still difficult to get a good read on either team, but both were known for quality defenses in recent years. Quality quarterback play is there with Keller Chryst of Stanford and Jake Browning of Washington, so Rosen’s production might be matched. That potentially dooms UCLA, if they continue to find ways to stop nobody on defense.
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Three losses in eight games would doom UCLA if a conference title is in sight. USC is at the top of the class, and until someone takes them down, it will be difficult to remove them from the top of the Pac-12 North.
What goes in Jim Mora’s team’s favor, is the rest of the Pac-12 North. Arizona and Arizona State can likely be bypassed for the conference championship, while Oregon and Utah have their own question marks. If the latter two falter, then it’s likely a USC vs. UCLA battle for the division. However, that’s if issues are cleaned up and Rosen isn’t relied on so much.
There are only seven days for UCLA to get on track, as the Stanford game is in Palo Alto, CA. A second loss might do them in, unless Rosen saves the day, again.