UCLA prepares for QB Michael Penix Jr., No. 15 Washington’s offense

Coach Chip Kelly and the UCLA football team (4-0 overall, 1-0 Pac-12) enter the second chunk of their 2022 season with an opportunity to avenge last season’s loss to then-Fresno State head coach Kalen DeBoer this Friday when the No. 15 Washington Huskies (4-0, 1-0) come to the Rose Bowl for a conference showdown.

Both UCLA and Washington are coming off short weeks, with the Huskies coming off a 40-22 victory over Stanford at home in one of the later games on the Saturday night slate. The Bruins won their season opener in Colorado 45-17 before a quick turnaround, practicing on Sunday evening to prepare for this week’s game.

Kelly began to evaluate film of what DeBoer possesses with the country’s top passing offense (1,475 yards) in Washington.

Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. leads the country with 1,388 passing yards and Washington ranks fifth in total offense with 530.8 yards per game.

Earlier this month Kelly was asked to evaluate his own quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s decision to return for a fifth season. Kelly mentioned that UCLA and Stanford (Tanner McKee) were the only two teams in the conference that had starting quarterbacks who joined their respective programs coming out of high school.

Penix was among the conference’s new quarterbacks but Kelly also recognizes that much more went into the pairing of DeBoer and Penix.

“They’ve played in the same system, I think it’s a little bit different,” Kelly said of DeBoer’s system at Washington compared to Fresno State last year. “Kalen and Penix have a history together, they were at Indiana together before, so I think it’s a little bit different than taking a kid that was in the portal, I think he’s got a pretty good grasp of that system because he played in it before.”

The matchup between the Huskies’ receivers and the Bruins’ secondary could be the key to the outcome. The Bruins were known for giving up explosive plays for touchdowns last season and while the secondary hasn’t been tested to that extent this season, they do have new starters at cornerback this year.

Sophomore Devin Kirkwood has made his first four college starts this season after working as a reserve cornerback in every game last season as a true freshman. Azizi Hearn had started 28 games over the past three seasons at Wyoming and started the first three games for UCLA this season but it appears junior John Humphrey is in line to make his second college start in as many weeks over Hearn.

Penix needs three more touchdowns to eclipse his single-season career-high of 14 touchdown passes in a season. The quarterback has only had to scramble once on a play that wasn’t a designed run this season and has not been sacked through the first four games of the season.

The Bruins’ ability to generate a pass rush and pressure Penix could be a key to slowing down the passing game and forcing the Huskies to run with the ball.

“Our group, we’re sack hungry,” linebacker Carl Jones said. “We’re really working on our moves and our pass rush, so we’re just gonna get after them. … Their offensive line has to go against us, not us going against them.”

Washington transfer and linebacker Laiatu Latu had a career-high three sacks last week against Colorado and was named Defensive Player of the Week.

“Latu came from UW, coach (Ikaika) Malloe came from UW, and that’s our coach, so the outside linebacker group,” Jones said. “We’re taking it really personal and we just gonna wait until Friday to see how it goes. But yeah, we definitely do try and see who can get the most (sacks) but at the end of the day, we’re happy for whoever gets them.”

Latu is one of three Washington transfers on the Bruins roster along with receiver Colson Yankoff and quarterback Ethan Garbers.

Yankoff caught two touchdowns, including one from Garbers, in Colorado to build on the Bruins’ lead.