ASU Football: Scouting Report, UCLA Bruins

With the football season officially upon us, it is time to scout out what sort of competition ASU football will see this Saturday in the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins.

After a game that featured ASU being exposed on national television, the Sun Devils went back to practice this week looking to fix the mistakes that were made during their games against USC.

While they may have corrected some of the mistakes they made against USC, the UCLA Bruins have players that can give the Sun Devils. Here are some players to watch out for.

1. Quarterback Josh Rosen

Josh Rosen has had the most hype around him since Andrew Luck at Stanford back in 2011. This player is very similar to Luck, he is a pro-style quarterback who makes plays with his arm. Rosen does struggle at times when it comes to going through all of his reads, he has the tendency to throw it to the first or second receiver he sees when there is a better option someplace else.

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Rosen will have a big night against the ASU secondary, as they have made quarterbacks a lot worse than Rosen look like Heisman candidates. The one place where ASU will have to get pressure is on UCLA’s offensive line. The line that is supposed to protect Rosen has done a poor job all season and the pressure that defensive lines have put on Rosen causes him to make mistakes. That will be the key to throwing Rosen off, get pressure on him through the D-line.

2. Defensive Lineman Takkarist McKinley

This man has wreaked havoc on offensive lines all season long. He leads the Bruins defense in sacks and tackles-for-loss. McKinley is a very dangerous player that has been able to shed through his assigned blocker no matter the team or situation.

Not only has McKinley been able to find the opponent’s backfield, he also has forced teams to pay more attention to his side of the field, which leaves the opposite side more vulnerable to pressure. By having a player that requires extra attention by the opposing team allows other players from the defensive unit to get pressure on the quarterback which ,in-turn, forces the quarterback to make mistakes.

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These two players will be the difference makers in the game for UCLA. IF these two perform well, the Sun Devils could be looking at a 4-2 record. If these two players are shut down and aren’t big factors in the game, then the Sun Devils could be back on track and still in the conversation for the Pac-12 south title.

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