Here is a scouting report on UCLA (8-4 overall, 6-3 Pac-12) who plays vs. NC State (9-3 overall, 6-2 ACC) at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego, Calif., on Fox.
Five UCLA players to watch
Outside linebacker Mitchell Agude
The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Agude played his best games in some of the biggest games. He had 10 tackles in the 62-33 blowout win over USC, and six tackles and a sack in the 38-27 win over LSU. Agude finished the season with 54 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. The former Rivals.com three-star junior college transfer had 24 tackles and 2.5 sacks last year.
Junior running back Zach Charbonnet
The 6-1, 220-pound NFL Draft prospect was a touted recruit, who signed with Michigan. Pro Football Focus has him as the No. 3 running back for the draft. Rivals.com ranked the four-star prospect the No. 60 overall player in the class of 2019 and the No. 4 running back in the country coming out of Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian High. He had a great freshman campaign at Michigan, where he rushed 149 times for 726 yards and 11 scores. Things did not go his way sophomore season and he transferred back home to UCLA. Charbonnet has blossomed this season, tallying 202 carries for 1,137 yards and 13 touchdowns. He has also added 24 catches for 197 yards. Charbonnet has topped 100 yards in seven different games, with a season-high 167 yards on 28 carries and a touchdown against USC.
Junior tight end Greg Dulcich
The former walk-on wide receiver has blossomed into one of the top tight ends in the country. He’s gained around 35 pounds and is now 6-4 and 250 pounds. Dulcich caught 42 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns this season. For his career, he has 77 receptions for 1,353 yards and 11 touchdowns. Dulcich caught three passes for 117 yards and a touchdown in the win over LSU, and had nine catches for 136 yards in the 42-23 loss vs. Arizona State on Oct. 2.
Senior safety Quentin Lake
The 6-1, 205-pounder is the son of former UCLA great Carnell Lake, who had a successful NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Quentin Lake is the anchor of the defense in light of nickel Qwuantrezz Knight missing the game after getting Covid. Lake was fifth on the squad with 54 tackles (40 solo), and added three interceptions, two tackles for loss and six passes broken up. He had nine tackles at Utah on Oct. 30, and seven tackles apiece against USC (also had an interception) and LSU. Lake has 179 career tackles and six interceptions. Rivals.com had him as a three-star prospect in the class of 2017.
Senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson
Thompson-Robinson was the rare touted quarterback, who had to wait his turn at Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman High behind starter Tate Martell. Despite not starting, he did well in camps and was committed to then UCLA coach Jim Mora before the start of the season. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 48 overall player in the country and No. 2 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2018.
The 6-1, 205-pounder has gone 176-of-283 passing for 2,409 yards, 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has also rushed 130 times for 609 yards and nine touchdowns. Thompson-Robinson passed for a season-high 349 yards and four touchdowns against USC, and he 13 carries for 102 yards in the 42-14 win over California in the regular season finale Nov. 27.
What to watch for from UCLA
1. Run, run and run some more: UCLA might not haver the reputation of being a physical running team nationally, but they have become that under coach Chip Kelly.
UCLA has rushed 518 times compared to throwing the football 335 times this season. The Bruins have amassed 2,582 yards and 31 touchdowns this season. The big three of running back Charbonnet, backup running back Brittain Brown, a Duke transfer, and quarterback Thompson-Robinson have all rushed for over 600 yards. Charbonnet leads the way with 1,137 rushing yards, with Brown right behind him with 102 carries for 616 yards and seven scores. Brown wasn’t available for the California game.
UCLA’s offensive line are two redshirt juniors, two juniors and one redshirt junior. The group average 303.2 pounds. Add in 6-4, 250-pound tight Greg Dulcich and it is an effective run-blocking group. UCLA has rushed for at least 200 yards in each of its eight wins this season, and averaged 251.3 yards in wins.
2. UCLA can also stop the run: The Bruins allowed 287.4 rushing yards per game in 2017. That number has been lowered to 124.2 rushing yards a contest. Teams rushed for 3.8 yards per carry.
Part of that success is due to sound tackling. Five teams rushed for 92 yards or less, with Hawaii rushing 21 times for a season-low 26 yards. LSU, Stanford, Washington and California were the other teams that couldn’t reach 100 yards. The three teams that solved the rushing riddle were Arizona State, Colorado and especially Utah. The Utes rushed 44 times for 290 yards and five touchdowns.
3. Will feature the tight end: NC State didn’t play against the two tight ends on the first- and- second-team All-ACC — Virginia’s Jelani Woods and Pitt’s Lucas Krull. NCSU did play against Louisville tight end Marshon Ford, who is more of a hybrid type. Ford caught 47 passes for 530 yards and two touchdowns, but the 6-2, 240-pounder had three catches for 48 yards with a long of 35.
Honorable mention tight end Brandon Chapman had three receptions for 23 yards and a touchdown for Wake Forest. The Clemson tight ends didn’t record a catch, and UNC’s Garrett Walston had one reception for 18 yards.
NC State will get challenged by junior tight end Greg Dulcich. The 6-4, 250-pounder former walk-on wide receiver caught at least four passes in four different games, and he’s the top tight end NC State has played this season. He has 42 catches for 725 yards for an average of 17.3 yards per catch and five touchdowns.
Three keys to the game for NC State football
1. Rushing game needs to produce: The NC State rushing attack has been hit or miss at times this season. This will be the last game for running back Ricky Person, and Zonovan Knight will be quickly making up his mind on whether he wants to enter the NFL Draft.
NC State has rushed for over 100 yards twice in the last six games — 113 against UNC and 111 at Miami. Establishing a running game will help ease the pressure on quarterback Devin Leary. UCLA has been good against the run and aggressive in blitzing.
2. Linebackers to play big: The powerful UCLA rushing attack will be a good challenge for NC State linebackers Drake Thomas, Vi Jones and Devon Betty.
Thomas leads NC State with 100 tackles, 13.5 tackles per game, six sacks and three interceptions. He’ll get challenged by the one-two running back punch of Zach Charbonnet and Britain Brown. Jones has 45 tackles, eight tackles for loss and six sacks, and he’ll be an ideal guy to keep an eye on scrambling quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. Betty has 39 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss.
3. Create pressure on UCLA’s new punter: Punter Luke Akers averaged 43.1 yards on 34 punts, with eight inside the 20-yard line. However, after the regular season finale, he entered the transfer portal.
Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira is listed as the new punter, and he hasn’t punted once this season. He’s gone 14 of 20 field goals with a long of 48. NC State was able to block a punt against North Carolina, with running back Jordan Houston getting the block and wide receiver C.J. Riley getting the touchdown.
Three numbers of note
3 Players who have played in a bowl game for UCLA on the roster. Defensive backs Mo Osling III and Quentin Lake and defensive lineman Martin Andrus Jr. played in the 2017 Cactus Bowl vs. Kansas State.
4 Highest rushing grade in the country by UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet by Pro Football Focus. He had a rushing grade of 91.9.
10 Touchdown receiving for junior wide receiver Kyle Philips this season. He had two scores against California in the regular season finale, and two touchdowns against USC the game before.
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