LOS ANGELES — Key Lawrence didn’t want to talk about Northwestern’s offense.
It’s not that the Bruins’ starting safety doesn’t respect the Wildcats. He does. It’s not that the redshirt senior hasn’t watched film and knows how quarterback Preston Stone is going to distribute the ball. He’s seen the Wildcats play and Stone’s three-to-six touchdown-to-interception ratio.
But for Lawrence, he knows that to crawl out of the cellar of the Big Ten, the Bruins are going to need to channel a new focus that they’ve yet to show in 2025.
“I feel like we’ve lost because of the defense, or because of the stuff that we’ve done, like on our schemes, it’s because of us,” Lawrence said earlier this week, before UCLA plays Northwestern at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. “It hasn’t been because of other teams. It’s been self-inflicted wounds.”
UCLA (0-3, 0-0 Big Ten) will get another chance to lick its wounds back to health – led by interim coach Tim Skipper – against Northwestern (1-2, 0-1 Big Ten), which may be the only team in the conference on a similar standing to the Bruins.
Northwestern, coached by David Braun in his third season as a college head coach, has averaged just 19.7 points per game through three games. The Wildcats’ only win came in a Week 2 victory over Western Illinois, an FCS program. Aside that game, Northwestern has scored only 17 total points against Oregon and Tulane.
To add to the Wildcats’ offensive woes – ranking 109th in passing offense with 180.3 yards per game – star running back Cam Porter suffered a season-ending leg injury earlier this month, forcing Northwestern into a tailback-by-committee approach.
“You wouldn’t know unless you read up that the starter got hurt,” Skipper said Wednesday. “I mean, other guys (Caleb Komolafe, Joseph Himon II and Dashun Reeder) are stepping in, and they’re very good players. We’re gonna have to tackle them. We’re gonna have our hands full, and we’re gonna have to fly around and get 11 hats to the party.”
Skipper noted that the force of the Wildcats is going to come with their defensive line, a front led by Carmine Bastone and Aidan Hubbard. Their pass rush has allowed Northwestern to limit explosive passing plays, ranking 21st in passing yards allowed through three games.
“We cannot let them wreck the game,” Skipper said. “We have to handle those guys. The interior guys get a lot of push and things like that. So their linebackers and safeties can roam and go make plays. … We gonna have a plan for that.”
While discipline, respect and enthusiasm (D.R.E.) had been the pillars of DeShaun Foster’s coaching philosophy – traits Skipper said he would still preach going forward – the Bruins’ interim coach shared another motto he’d like his team to represent: “Be on the Rise.”
For Nico Iamaleava, the Bruins’ redshirt sophomore quarterback who is still searching for the escaping sensation of victory, being on the rise requires limiting mistakes.
“If we play a clean game, this whole season could be different,” he said. “Just us going out there and executing our game, executing our rules, and playing a clean game.”
When Northwestern has the ball
The Wildcats like to balance the pass-to-run approach, but have found little success throwing the ball. Stone has a clear pass-catching target in wide receiver Griffin Wilde – connecting with the South Dakota State transfer for a team-high 213 yards and 15 receptions – but also struggles with inaccuracy, completing just 59.3% of his passes and tossing six interceptions. Stone’s passes have gone for a measly 6.3 yards per attempt, a steep drop-off after his four seasons at SMU.
Komlafe and Himon have looked formidable as a one-two punch, meaning Northwestern could rely on the running game early, as most teams have against UCLA in 2025. If the approach isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
When UCLA has the ball
The Bruins’ running backs room has yet to be effective, with Iamaleava leading all Bruins in rushing yards. Offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri has, however, made plenty of attempts to get Anthony Woods the ball – whether on the ground or in the air.
If UCLA’s offensive line can hold Northwestern’s front four from generating too much pressure, the Bruins could pass the ball more frequently against the Wildcats. While wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer has yet to truly break out – as he expected himself to do – Iamaleava has found plenty of connection with him and Mikey Matthews (26 combined receptions of 62 total) to appear as true threats for plays downfield.
UCLA (0-3) at Northwestern (1-2)
When: 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday
Where: Martin Stadium. Evanston, Illinois
TV/radio: Big Ten Network/790 AM
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