Ranking the Top 100 College Football Teams for 2018: No. 61 UCLA

In the 100 days leading up to the kickoff of the college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, HERO Sports is ranking the top 100 teams in the FBS. Each day, starting May 17 and ending Aug. 24, a new team is revealed in the HERO Sports Top 100. 

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No. 61 UCLA

Chip Kelly is back. And while he needs time to line his roster with good fits for his system, there's some big-time talent across the Bruins' two-deep. 

Tight end Caleb Wilson is a potential All-American, running back Soso Jamabo leads a backfield capable of turning around a putrid run game, true freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has the tools to be Kelly's next dual-threat star and corner Darnay Holmes is a rising stud.

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2017 Record: 6-7 (4-5, Pac-12)

UCLA won 50 percent more games in 2017 than in 2016 but that doesn't mean much coming off a four-win season. The Bruins posted their sixth sub-.500 record in the last 11 years, and for the third time in the last decade, they failed to win more than 10 games over a two-year period.

The defense gave up at least 44 points four times and they lost five games by 17 or more points.

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Head Coach: Chip Kelly (1st Year)

“I believe football is about three things: I believe it’s about relationships, friendships and championships," Chip Kelly said at his introductory press conference in late November.

The relationships and friendships are great and may ultimately lead to success but he was hired for the third part: Championships. The Bruins haven't won a conference championship since 1998 and haven't even won a Pac-12 South title since 2012.

“Conference championships are great, but I want us to compete for national championships,” said former UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman, who was involved in the search committee and also called Kelly the "greatest hire in UCLA history." 

Their lone claimed national title came in 1954 (though Ohio State is widely considered national champions). Don't let Troy down, Chip.

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Player Losses

QB Josh Rosen, WR Jordan Lasley, WR Darren Andrews, DE Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, LB Kenny Young, S Jaleel Wadood

The nation's fourth-ranked passing attack (341.5 yards per game) lost a three-year starting quarterback in Josh Rosen and its top two receivers, Jordan Lasley and Darren Andrews, who combined for 129 receptions and more than 2,000 yards.

Defensively, Kenny Young was their do-it-all linebacker for the last two years, racking up 200 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and five passes defended. Jacob Tuioti-Mariner is also gone after setting a career high in sacks as a senior (7.5).

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Returning Offensive Players

QB Devon Modster, QB Matt Lynch, RB Soso Jamabo, RB Bolu Olorunfunmi, WR Theo Howard, TE Caleb Wilson, OT Andre James, OT Jake Burton, G Michael Alves, K JJ Molson

Chip Kelly retained several of Jim Mora's offensive assistants, among them receivers coach Jimmie Doughtery and running backs coach DeShaun Foster, and will not have an offensive coordinator. His most notable hire was long-time college and NFL assistant Dana Bible as quarterbacks coach. Bible was most recently an assistant on Kelly's San Francisco 49ers' staff in 2016 and coached Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan in college.

Kelly and Bible are searching for Rosen's replacement. And the competition is crowded with sophomore returnees Devon Modster and Matt Lynch competing with four-star true freshman Dorian Robinson-Thompson and Michigan transfer Wilton Speight. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Modster is the most experienced returnee, having attempted 79 passes in relief of Rosen last year, though he, like all the quarterbacks, need time to learn an offense that was running a play every 17 seconds during spring practice.

“He’s done a nice job,” Kelly said of Modster near the end of spring practice. “He’s picking things up, he’s a smart kind, he’s intelligent [and] he’s got a good base. He was obviously coached very well before we got here. He has a good knowledges of coverages.”

The run game improved from the nation's worst in 2016 (2.9 yards per carry) but it was still poor, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry and leading to long third-down attempts. Both top backs return in seniors Soso Jamabo (below) and Bolu Olorunfunmi.

Theo Howard is in line for the No. 1 receiver job and Caleb Wilson is back at tight end after an injury ended his spectacular sophomore season after only five games.

An offensive line that's been bad for most of the last couple years returns two starters and multiple players admitted there were struggles during spring ball.

There have been some tough times out there," senior right tackle Burton said in April "but we're just grinding through it and that definitely builds that chemistry between us."

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Returning Defensive Players

DE Marcus Moore, DT Chigozie Nnoruka, LB Krys Barnes, LB Jaelan Phillips, LB Keisean Lucier-South, CB Darnay Holmes, CB Nate Meadors, S Adarius Pickett

Kelly hired long-time defensive line assistant Jerry Azzinaro to fix a defense that was mediocre in several areas (red zone, third downs) and downright awful in others (against the run, quarterback pressure).

For now, Azzinaro's 4-3 unit will lean heavily on a veteran secondary and a promising linebacker group. Kelly hired former Iowa State head coach Paul Rhoads to coach a secondary that underachieved last year but returns three starters, among them senior corner Nate Meadors and sophomore corner Darnay Holmes. Holmes, a five-star 2017 recruit from Calabasas, isn't a huge guy but he's physical and quick as hell.

Four upperclassmen are projected to start at linebacker and there are plenty of bodies behind them, though this group needs to improve dramatically from a year in which they allowed 287 rushing yards per game. The speed and athleticism are there, especially in Keisean Lucier-South, a former end who should occupy their new edge rush position in hopes of improving their sack rate (5.9 percent in 2017).

The goal of a thin defensive line coached is more violence. Not one lineman had at least 10 tackles for loss or three sacks a year ago.

"It means attacking the man in front of you, it means doing everything you do with violence,” defensive end Marcus Moore said early in spring practice. “That means running, setting your hands on the man in front of you, your mentality, everything. It’s violence.”

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Player Additions

QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB Wilton Speight, RB Joshua Kelly, TE Devin Asiasi, OL Justin Murphy

Wilton Speight and Dorian Thompson-Robinson arrived this summer to join the quarterback competition. Thompson, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound dual-threat quarterback with extreme athleticism appears to be a perfect fit for Kelly's system. Speight, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound pro-style quarterback with limited mobility, does not. They disagree.

"One thing [Kelly] stressed was, he said, 'Look, we're watching film right now of Nick Foles, we're watching film of Sam Bradford, and this is what we're going to do with you,' " Speight said in late May.

UC Davis transfer Joshua Kelly reportedly looked as good as Jamabo and Olorunfunmi in the spring ball and will get opportunities to be the lead back. Two other transfers, Devin Asiasi (Michigan) and Justin Murphy (Texas Tech) may not start but they'll play.

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Schedule

It's hard to see many wins on UCLA's schedule. Their non-conference isn't easy and they get the top four teams in the Pac-12 North — Washington, Stanford, Oregon and Cal.

UCLA won't be favored in many games and bowl eligibility will be a challenge.