Game Week! UCLA Football Preview Against Hawaii + Depth Chart Thoughts

what is up and welcome to another edition of the Brewin Bible will Decker your host make sure you guys are liking and subscribing the podcast we are brought to you guys today by our advertisers our advertisers are BTO Bell Fitness Shor a realtor out in Arizona former bruan Alum and my main man Howard Chang a realtor right here in Los Angeles let's go through them guys uh Bel tobell Fitness is a boxing gym on the west coast used by their fit acronym fight inspired training my Man Tony Gonzalez was the boxing coach for UCLA for over 10 years he has built this gym on the West Side to learn how to boxing stay in shape and give you all the essentials you need to become somebody that is obsessed with boxing and fitness make sure to check it out go into BTO Bell Fitness and say you heard about it from the Bruin Bible and you're G to get a free session with Tony Gonzalez so make sure to check that out Shay Tor my main man Shay Tor is a real licensed real estate agent in Arizona in a lifelong 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Draper are UCLA alums and a huge huge fans of the UC football and basketball programs you will often see them at games tailgating and networking and staying involved with the UCLA alumni Community they would love to help any fellow alumni with accomplishing their real estate goals so if you guys have any real estate needs in the LA area look no further Howard is your guy all right guys we're GNA go into the episode what is Up Guys these words can't come out of my mouth fast enough it is officially game week here for your UCLA Bruin we have made it through the long slog of summer football season is officially here it started this past weekend and the UCLA Bruins are gonna be traveling to Hawaii this next weekend to play the Rainbow Warriors madman on a scale of 1 to 10 how excited are we to finally have the weight behind us and a game Upon Us my friend brother we're at an 11 here I mean on a scale of 1 to 10 I mean it's hard to believe it's been 9 months will I mean I would know I'm expecting a baby here you know it's been nine months since our last gamee I mean hard to believe that the LA bow was around mid December if we recall kind of end of second week beginning of third week of December and now once we have the kickoff upon us it's the last day in August so essentially eight and a half to nine months of the off season we've gone through coaching changes we've gone through personel changes we've had press conferences heard around the world we've had practice sessions heard around the world I mean UCLA football has been all over the globe it feels like these last eight and a half months and it's great to get back on the field and talk about ball man it really is and yeah this was a long off season for a lot of different reasons so it's nice just to be able to focus on football at this point man and there's just a lot to be excited about guys we're gonna be breaking down the exciting matchup between Hawaii and UCLA it's going to be a little tougher than I think some people are going to expect with Hawaii uh and traveling to Hawaii as well we're going to talk about what we want to see from the game but the first thing I think we should start with mad man the depth chart was released today yes and it's just exciting to kind of see this thing play out TJ Harden being running back number one kind of stood out to me immediately welld deserved I think he's a you know an incredible talent but let's see how it kind of interacts in an Eric B enemy like offense there's other two points that I really kind of you know illuminated to me just you know reading the depth chart seeing what was going on there one Logan Loya as we kind of predicted is the fourth receiver on this list Rico Flores leading the way when it comes that specific spot as the zebra as they call it you know that second option at wide receiver and J Mike being the X and the Y uh is Maliki maval the tight end and Titus is getting the slot spot so this is some big developments within UCLA and then the other one that I got really excited about mad man Ali Koo is slated to start as the will linebacker position man we have been waiting for this since 2021 ironically the last game I think he played was Hawaii Hawai yes 2021 so this is like a three-year in the making type of thing for oi Koo to come back the last guy we had with this was latu latu who was the first pick in the NFL draft buddy this is a big big development with you know Ali Kao coming back and you know TJ Harden starting what were some of the other takeaways you had from the depth chart list that just came out brother yeah will I mean it's it's so well said you broke it down so well I think the first thing that kind of jumped out to me was the the confirmation at the wide receiver position you know we talked about this sort of all spring will and we kind of went in saying hey I think it's going to be JM and Loya and Rico as kind of the first three guys and then as we saw particularly in Fall camp that connection that garbers had with TMA it just became apparent that TMA was going to find find his way into that first string and so kind of putting him in that Z slot J Mike at that X and then now Rico Flores at the slot you know having those as the top three guys we were sensing it was going to go that way hard to believe last year's leading receiver now is going to be the fourth receiver on this team so that was absolutely significant and then I think a little bit of a takeaway there with TJ uh I think you know for as difficult potentially as an offseason as he had in the spring he and Eric benmy really sort of having lots of on the- field conversations and interactions uh but I think the sense is that he's probably still your best every down back option now it remains to be seen how long TJ Harden stays in that first string because again that Swiss Army Knight that is Keegan Jones seems to be more conducive to an Eric bemy offense but I think out of respect out of sort of stability out of you know continuity they're starting with hard and seeing how the Keegan Jones Dynamic plays out and then of course tight end matal will and then the offensive line the five that we knew was going to be the case that's been sort of solidified here those were kind of the clearcut five guys and then defensively well I think you know uh your guy that that you know you've really liked for a while on that edge is is Jacob buich you know who's shown a lot of flashes uh over the course of the the the spring and the fall he's now got to step in and play a really big role big step up from where he played last year but he's going to get that opportunity Toya and keano anchoring the middle I think we expected that and then obviously I was a little surprised that Olio and madrano and Kow were the the three linebackers I think Kow I think was was the surprise where given where he was but I think the upside is significant and then obviously will there's that flirtation with Madrono is he going to be a linebacker or is he going to kind of be a pseudo Edge is he going to be more like that latu roll so I think they've been slotted in to appropriate positions now how how Eric benemy and Company sort of color outside the lines and how you know the defense as well as the offense colors Outside the Lines is going to be significant very significant and it was shocking to me with Kow because I think he's an immense Talent was a former five-star guy I mean this is a guy Nick Sabin brought to Alabama for him transferred out but John John Vons man is been here for two years and is very reliable like this is a very good football player that he kind of displaced in the starting lineup right there and then when it comes from Logan Loya we saw some of it play out in Spring and I want people to know Rico Flores is a real talent like this guy was offered by your Georgia your Ohio States he was the second leading receiver at Notre Dame last year as a true freshman a blue blood Powerhouse program that is Notre Dame love him or hate him that's just the reality of the situation so Rico Flores we saw with his route running we've said it all spring he's kind of like this year's J Mike where we were very excited about J Mike last spring Rico has all the tools in the toolbox you want from a wide receiver so Loya I mean as as much as it pains me to see him outside the starting lineup I'm kind of equally stoked for what Rico Flores could bring for the table and you know UCLA as a whole you know well what's interesting is as as you were also talking that as much as we have talked about the versatility both on offense and defense of kind of what we want to see we we're starting the season in a more traditional way right like when you think about TJ Harden versus a Keegan Jones when you think about an Ali Kow versus a John John Von when you think about lining up Madrono at linebacker instead of edge right there was all of these kind of questions going into the season of thinking a little bit outside the box maybe being a little bit more versatile and I think to the coaching staff's credit I think they're starting in a very sort of Trad fashion of sort of slotting these guys in their various positions and then I think it becomes easier to get more versatile as you sort of progress in the season as opposed to kind of maybe starting with with sort of a non-traditional rotation and then trying to get more traditional later on so I thought that was very interesting that you know JN John's kind of that hybrid linebacker safety but they're like look you know that's a that's a nice Gadget that's a weapon let's go with our traditional backer or you know uh Keegan obviously we've talked about hey the ceiling here could be Marshall Fox 500 500 they're like well that's a great Swiss army knife but let's start with our traditional running back and then you know so on and so forth Madrono on the edge yes bage could use some reinforcements we're a little light on the edge we've moved a champong to the interior on that three-man rotation with Toya and keano but let's start Madrono at linebacker traditionally where he's comfortable and then go from there so I thought it was it's an Ode to traditionalism to sort of start the season which I think is right yeah and it's it's tough you mentioned a champong man not even listed as the backup for the nose and Tackle Spot very raw talent I mean it makes sense why they moved him inside 275 280 is a behemoth of a human and I mean he's like 19 20 years old so he's only gon to get bigger at that size so it'll be interesting to see what he does they have I think a KUSI and topaki kind of on the inside there so that'll be a really fun storyline to watch play out all right man let's get down to Hawaii and here's what I'm worried about with this game for UCLA fans they had the luxury of playing a game last week man they won 35 to4 over Delaware State having a game under your belt you kind of Iron Out The Kinks a little bit and you're ready to roll at full steam ahead you know in game number two we didn't have the luxury of that and we're going about five six hours on a plane ride to Hawaii on the island so listen I I think on paper we are definitely the better team and there's a lot of advantages to that but this team I think is very much improved and I think this is a team that Timmy Chang former Hawaii quarterback man this guy was the all-time leader in passing yards and completion for the Rainbow Warriors and in ashy until Case Keenum broke his record actually at Houston um he is built the program back up I mean nine and 18 as a head coach but he started off with a bare chest they won three games they won five games this year this is kind of the year three Prov it and it might be a bll game for Hawaii when all a said done which is a huge victory for Hawaii uh they got some Talent on the offensive side of the ball and I think the big storyline is Titus is going to be playing his brother tomatow MIAA Tim Malala the duel he had two catches for 30 yards in their game against Hawaii Titus obviously named the starter as a slot how cool is it that two brothers are gonna be battling it out on Saturday madman no it's amazing and tell so happy for him obviously you mention will the two the two catches for 30 yards but also one of those catches was for a touchdown and so you know big performance there to start and so obviously you know what a what a huge moment there uh you know for the family to be able to see both sons I know uh you know the family watches the show and and we're such big fans of them and and what a wonderful family that they have created and the values and and just you know they do all the the right things and so we're very appreciative uh to them and and just this is a huge moment for uh to see two brothers go at it play the same position so you know there's really an opportunity for a lot of fireworks on both ends well I think you said it best the the opportunity to kind of get the Kinks out that first game is really significant Hawaii at home Delaware State obviously not a not an FBS team but you're just kind of getting the Reps in and I think Hawaii walks away from that game saying hey we there's a lot we can improve on I think the thing that I took away will was even though Timmy Chang is the coach and he's been known for passing it all over the field with with those kind of June Jones like offenses you know that's that that similar tree and the pedigree that they come from I think Hawaii played with a lot of balance when when you look at it they had 34 throws they had 28 runs uh you know so they're trying to create a sense of balance uh over on the offensive side of the ball I think they struggled a little bit 203 yards passing 128 yards rushing 331 total yards is a bit of a modest number will when you're talking about kind of a non FBS team at home but I think just kind of getting those Kinks out uh I think is very significant now they have the Comfort the luxury of playing at home game two and you know they're going to be rallying it I mean in a lot of ways you wonder did Hawaii leave a little bit off of The Playbook to kind of get this first win under their belt to really put it out there will you mentioned it year three for Timmy changen oh my God what what a statement that would be if he could find a way to upset UCLA at the beginning of year three to take this program to a completely different trajectory so they're going to approach this as their Super Bowl as their college football playoff being at home I think it's going to be a really rockus crowd Hawaii uh that home field is very significant between the crowd between the time difference you know these are non-traditional kickoff times for UCLA so the Bruins have to be ready to play I think there's a significant amount of talent at UCLA in terms of Advantage if you look at the Brewin roster versus the Rainbow Warrior roster but you got to be focused you got to ready to go and I think the start is going to be pivotal I think that first quarter let's see that Eric bmy offense at work let's get up a couple of scores and take the air and the momentum out of the stadium if this thing goes and is a competitive game for a quarter a quarter and a half belief starts setting in you know then it can be sort of a dog fight in the second half and then Anything Can Happen yeah and you know the quarterback Braden shagger the numbers didn't do it justice because all the Recaps I read and watched the wind was a huge factor in that game so he was 17 to 34 through the air so take that with a grain of salts this guy threw for you know 3,000 plus passing yards last year and 26 touchdowns he's a very good quarterback he was able to get done two through the air two on the ground he was a dynamic running the ball and here's the big key I think you mentioned it they were able to balance it out a lot more but the stat that kind of blew me away when it came to Hawaii last year they were Five-0 when they ran for more than 67 yards as a team left last year they were they lost eight games all eight games they lost is when they didn't run for more than 67 yards so if they can run the ball effectively it seems like they've got a shot in any one of these games but if the defense shows up for UCLA obviously that stacked linebacking room can come out there and make some plays we might be able to prevent you know upset watch when it comes to playing Hawaii on the road you gotta respect every opponent you play you know I think UCLA's on paper much more talented in a lot of different areas but this team's they returned two of their top three tacklers Peter manuma this safety is a badass man 87 tackles three interceptions last year coming back and then Logan Taylor the guy who led the team in tackles in 2022 he was out all of last year so he's coming back he's gonna play they have guys that it feels very much like a senior leadership team and the and the team that potentially has the leadership to change the ties of the program and try to build it into a consistent winner out there in Hawaii so there's just a lot of different story Lin coming in there I'm predicting U to win I think it's going to be you know I'd say 4217 in a good like environment that would be my prediction um do you have any predictions on the surface when it comes to the score of this ball game absolutely will and I think you you brought up a couple of great points you know with shager what's interesting is that the fact that Timmy Chang had the confidence to throw the ball 34 times in the wind right like he didn't change their sort of Game Plan plan in terms of passing aggressiveness and that's a signal because if you have questions about your quarterback or you have questions about your offense you are going to significantly change the number of attempts or the usage rate of that quarterback depending on the weather if it's adverse to a passing game they didn't do that at all shager drop back 34 times he he let it fly in the wind so there's a tremendous amount of confidence that exists there number two will think your point about the 67 yards is is key because this in many ways sort of reminds me of a San Diego State game last year or a game against Colorado last year where if this is sort of last year's team with latu and the Murphy T Twins and Carl Jones Jr we're gonna get after shagger and he's going to get very uncomfortable here there's still some questions on the edge now we know Toya and keano are going to sort of totally collapse that interior the question is going to be is Hawaii going to be able to get some cheap yards on the edge are they going to be able to run some sort of Zone uh you know some Zone Concepts On The Edge from a running game perspective run away from the interior which is the strength of that UCLA defense this year and allow kind of these Edge guys and these linebackers in in more of these one-on-one situations that's going to be the key so as long as UCLA can set the edge will I think there's going to be a lot of dominance to come in the game if UCLA is not able to set the edge and no matter how good Toya is and keano is on it's hard to generate a pass rush from the Interior right well so if shager can kind of sit back even if the guys aren't open initially secondary openings tend to happen plays become five six seven seconds he can get the ball out start moving the ball then it becomes a little bit of an interesting ball game in that regard where then they can run it a little bit but then because they know they can drop back and have more slow developing plays turn into positive yards they're in the game so to me the key matchup here will is going to be who how quickly can UCLA set the edge to eliminate the the sort of the Zone running game of Hawaii and also get after shager and make him really uncomfortable I think they will be able to do that to your point fairly quickly and I agree with you I see a very similar outcome I see a 3817 UCLA yeah 38- 17 I think that's very fair man we're kind of in the same ballpark when it comes to the score UCLA if they do everything we expect them to do should win by multiple scores in this game let's talk to some key players and what we'd like to see each of us get two on this one it'll just be a fun way to kind of cap the preview episode for Hawaii and I'm gonna piggyback off your point um we need to bring more pressure and the guy that I'm looking for he's played well in huge games in the past we kind of saw him switch he's a freak athlete started as a receiver at UCLA now as a linebacker Kane Madrono your time is now brother we need that edge presence especially with the Lotus the Murphy twins gone Jacob busic and alpu you know as the edge rushers I don't feel completely confident this could succeed in a big 10 like environment so the odds of us having to send more guys to generate more pressure is going to be a necessary Factor if Kane Madrono is a disruptor in this first game this could set the tone and build his confidence as a pass rusher for the entire season moving forward I Gotta Give it to Kane Kane is my first pick in this because I think he plays such a vital role to the ceiling of this team in hitting their maybe seven to eight win mark that we think they can get MTM so what is your thoughts on that first pick and give me your first pick as we keep it moving no Thriller I mean that's uh it would be my first pick if it wasn't your first pick I mean it's a it's a phenomenal point I think in many ways Madrono is going to be the Lynch pin of this game as a springboard uh to to a vital start that we need given that middle of the season that ability to set the edge I will sort of be related to that and I think it's it's FEI Olio right and I think if if Madrono is the primary emphasis in terms of what we're looking for to set the edge I want to see Olio have one of those kind of sideline the sideline games I think this is going to be one where you know there's some Shifty backs uh you know out of the back field with Hawaii they got some Twitchy slot guys I think FEI is going to be sort of sideline to sideline I think he may come in uh help stop the run I think he's going to play a little bit of spy on shagger from time to time to sort of limit his ability to move around and be super comfortable so I see ol adio as having a massive impact in this game I'm looking for him in that kind of 8 to2 tackle range here Will and really put his imprint uh sideline to sideline in this game and and really solidify kind of being the captain of this front seven the way and take that torch officially from Darius moassel a Hawaii transfer as well in D exact as well so great point on that my friend there's so many different ways I can go with my last pick I mean am I excited to see Toya really kind of put it together all for a senior year that's a point I would definitely make uh you know Rico Flores Skyrock up the board taking the leading receivers job very interesting but man we got to go back to last year J Michael stur it the time is now my friend we are pumped to see you when you had consistent quarter back play you were amazing you finished it off with the bowl game you know how I am with the momentum you can build from a bow game like environment into the next season four catches 142 yards and a touchdown let's see it man we thought you know our ceiling for this guy a week ago was he could be a first team all big 10 receiver you plant those seeds in the early games of the season so let me see that you can be that first team all big 10 wide out give me a bomb give me a touchdown let's go 8090 yards and a score maybe gets pulled in the third quarter or something like that but just even having that type of stat line you go oh man we got the guy we think we got and it's going to be trouble for defenses all season long so J Mike is my pick on that what do you think about that brother and where are you going with your last pick oh I love it I mean J Mike and and let's not forget will what gang busters he started last year with against Coastal Carolina we want to see some similar fireworks this year to really establish him as that ultimate deep threat for Ethan garbers if garbers has that you know chemistry and connection with TMA that he does and Flores kind of becomes that intermediate guy then sturdivan has to become the the Deep threat that we all know he's so capable of and he's shown so hopefully uh offensive line holds up and enables him to be able to do this and that's what kind of gets me to the last Point here well I was sort of debating between hey do I want something from TJ Harden here in terms of does he kind of establish himself as rb1 and game like this and how quickly does Eric benmy go to Keegan Jones in a game like this I'm going to be really looking out for that but I think the so that's going to be significant but I think Will from a collective perspective I'm looking at the offensive line this this should be a game where Ethan Garber should be relatively upright most of the game his uniform should be relatively pristine he should have the time that he needs to be able to get it to sturdy to be able to go to TMA to be able to go to Flores their running Lane should be open I think that's what I'm really looking for that there are seamless moments here from an offensive perspective no sacks allowed you know very few penalties I think I'm looking at the technique and the discipline of this offensive line because that's going to be the key to this whole season moving forward particularly in Big 10 play so my eyes are on that fab five will as sort of my second kind of group pick love it man yeah that is yeah the offensive line it will be a test to see how well they can Jael this quickly as you know un and makah heli we know what the talent is we know these guys are good players but lines they take a little while to gel so I want to see how that looks it's a great point to kind of close it out on I think two other points the running back competition is going to be on our eyes all season long at least in the first parts of the games how's Harden looking how Keegan's looking this is gonna be fun because bemy offense is completely different from chips and you saw you saw it with the quote from Loya you know talking about enemy offense he goes we have so many different new play calls than what we had it's been a huge kind of learning curve when it comes to that for UCLA so that's one thing I'm watching and I mean what is a breu Bible episode if I'm not going to mention the secondary man come on this is Hawaii they throw the ball a lot you mentioned the June Jones tree they're gonna have their reps I want to see how they respond because Kirkwood and Davies we can't use the excuse if they're young and undisciplined players anymore they are veterans of The Craft KJ Wallace is at the nickel I feel very confident in him and then we got two new safeties in brillan Addison and our guy Ramone Henderson so this is gonna be fun to watch how the secondary does it if it's a little less windy out there in Hawaii I think they're throwing the ball 40 45 times in this game especially if they're down early like we expect them to be so secondary needs to show up and make some plays madman we have made it the long wait is over college football season is here bruan fans thank you for listening once again please like And subscribe we have some great stuff coming your guys's way this year don't go anywhere we're going to try to get Wayne Cook on this week and maybe some other people as well to talk everything Bruins you guys have a great rest of your evening and thank God football season is back baby