College Football

How UCLA and Oregon built themselves into Pac-12 contenders

Updated Dec. 13, 2022 3:20 p.m. ET

By Bryan Fischer
FOX Sports College Football Writer

When Chip Kelly walks out to midfield amid the cozy confines of Autzen Stadium on Saturday, the former Oregon head coach is unlikely to receive the same enthusiastic applause that he did upon his first return visit to Eugene back in 2018.

Back then it was understandable why the green-clad faithful would want to salute and celebrate the UCLA coach. After all, he was the man responsible for leading the program to never before seen heights, going 46-7 with the Ducks and making four straight BCS bowl games — all while largely transforming the sport itself with his distinctive up-tempo offense.

Part of the polite welcome also had a little to do with the state of each program. Oregon won that game four years ago in relatively easy fashion, 42-21, behind future first-round pick Justin Herbert. The loss helped consign UCLA to what would ultimately become its worst record since 1971.

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This time around, however, both sides find themselves in a far different position ahead of a rare West Coast meeting of top-10 teams that will go a long way in determining which side will make it to the Pac-12 Championship Game. (Watch Saturday's game at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).

"It's always special going back there, it's a special place in my life and there's a lot of great people there that had a profound impact on my life. But I'm not playing the game, so, that's where we're totally focused," Kelly remarked after practice this week. "We all know what this entails. It's a business trip, just like any other away game in this league."

How both the ninth-ranked Bruins and No. 10 Ducks have arrived at the point where it’s just business also offers an interesting study in building (or re-building) a program nowadays. Each finds themselves in the same spot prior to kickoff yet took slightly diverse tracts in doing so.

At UCLA, that starts with one common thread running back to 2018 in quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson. The then-freshman arrived in Westwood as a consensus four-star recruit and was one of Kelly’s top priorities after taking over as coach the previous winter. Things were rough that first season together, however, as ‘DTR’ dealt with an early shoulder injury and looked very much like an inexperienced starter out on the field.

Yet in each season since, Thompson-Robinson has continued to refine his game under center and helped slowly and methodically guide the Bruins from being only lightly competitive in conference play to the point where they are now potential College Football Playoff dark horses. The redshirt senior opted to return for another go-around in 2022 to play in big games just like this and takes the nation’s second-longest winning streak with him into the matchup on Saturday.

"I just think the one thing that I love about him is he's a lifelong learner. He gets better every single day, he's always trying to get better, and he has that mentality. I don't think he ever thinks he's arrived," Kelly said of the school’s all-time leader in touchdown passes. "He's got a world of talent, but he's got a work ethic to go with it."

"He understands what they’re trying to accomplish," first-year Oregon coach Dan Lanning remarked before noting Thompson-Robinson’s dual-threat nature. "He’s a dynamic player, and anytime he touches the ball it can turn into an explosive play."

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Lanning also has a veteran quarterback to lean upon, but in a nod to how different things are nowadays, he needed to dip into the Transfer Portal to find one in Bo Nix.

An Auburn legacy who arrived on the Plains as the nation’s top quarterback prospect in the Class of 2019, Nix was (not unlike his opposite number at UCLA this week) thrown into the fire right away and forced to learn on the job. He became the first true freshman to start a season opener for the Tigers since 1946 — a win over Oregon — and memorably helped lead the team to a wild upset of No. 5 Alabama in the Iron Bowl his first season.

Still, his development was far from the more linear track Thompson-Robinson embarked on at UCLA, and Nix’s high-water mark with the team was likely that night fans stormed the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium to celebrate topping the Tide.

Auburn went 6-5 the following season amid erratic quarterback play, leading to Gus Malzahn’s exit as head coach. Things didn’t improve much in Nix’s third season as a starter under a new regime, and he transferred last December across the country to resurrect his career in Eugene.

Outside of a rough opener against No. 1 Georgia, Nix has played far more controlled running the UO offense under coordinator Kenny Dillingham and is completing 70.4% of his passes to rank in the top-10 in FBS.

He’s also a bit of a rarity as an upperclassman on what is mostly a very young Ducks roster. Outside the veteran-laden offensive and defensive lines, the team sports 25 freshmen or sophomores on the two-deep.

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Leading receiver Troy Franklin played in all 14 games last season but has emerged as a go-to player with his 6-foot-3 frame. Fellow second-year player Seven McGee has proven to be a nice complement out of the slot after arriving on campus initially as a running back. Freshman tailback Jordan James is second to Nix on the team in rushing touchdowns after arriving as a highly regarded recruit out of Nashville who flipped his commitment at the last minute from Georgia.

Defensively, linebacker Noah Sewell might be the program’s top NFL draft prospect down the road after earning All-Pac-12 first-team honors in 2021 as a true freshman. He’s one of several Oregon playmakers who were brought on board by former coach Mario Cristobal, who, like Lanning, learned under Nick Saban at Alabama the importance of recruiting at a high level — and doing so every single day.

"Dan Lanning did a tremendous job for the University of Georgia while he worked for the University of Georgia. Now he's working for Oregon. He's going to do a really good job at Oregon. He's relentless," Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart said after beating the Ducks in September. "He knows that we've got better players. He'll never say it, but he knows we've got better players."

That was certainly born out with results on the field to start the year, but it’s not like Lanning had an empty cupboard to work with. Oregon is the top Pac-12 team (and seventh nationally) in the 247Sports Talent Composite rankings, a measure of just how many four- and five-stars dot the 85-man roster. There may be a gap to the reigning national champions at the moment, but as the team ascended up the polls with five straight wins, there was a reason why previous staffers like Cristobal were not shy in thinking this could be a special team in 2022.

In addition to what was on hand, the new coaches also made good use of the transfer portal to supplement in certain areas. Defensive back Christian Gonzalez has been one of the best in the conference at locking down opposing receivers since coming over from Colorado. Fellow sophomore Bucky Irving led Minnesota in all-purpose yardage and is now Oregon’s leading rusher.

UCLA, in slight contrast, is punching far above its weight when it comes to the recruiting rankings (27th overall, according to 247Sports’ Talent Composite). Much of that has been the result of a far more refined approach Kelly has undertaken with recruiting. In addition to valuing fit over star ratings — even in talent-rich Southern California — the Bruins have also been able to make the most of shifting players around to best optimize what they can do for the team.

Slot receiver Kazmeir Allen was labeled a three-star running back coming out of California’s Central Valley, knocked for his 5-foot-9 height and slight frame. Kelly loved his 10.44 100-meter speed, though, and he’s since turned into a nice target over the middle and as a kick returner. In last year’s win over USC, he ran a kickoff back for one of his three touchdowns against the crosstown rivals.

Left guard Atonio Mafi arrived on campus as a three-star recruit and started as a true freshman on the defensive line. He eventually flipped over to the offensive side of the ball and has since helped form the core of the team’s resurgent running game alongside fellow multi-year starters Duke Clemens and Jon Gaines II. All three remember the early, less successful days around Westwood as many wondered if the game had passed Kelly’s offense by. Now, UCLA’s rushing attack is second in the Pac-12 in yards per carry, and they rank 12th in the country in scoring.

"This is a team that runs the ball really well," said Lanning. "They’ll scheme runs, gain extra hats based off pullers and leverage and numbers counts, that’s something they do a good job of. It’s not just go fast either, they mix the tempo."

The speed at which the Bruins practice and play can take getting used to for both opponents and those in powder blues alike. The team’s morning practices are often a flurry of whistles, instructions, drills, team periods, and shuffling from one end of a field to another for the entire roster. It helps however that so many on the roster have grown up in the unique way the program is run over the course of several years.

"I think the one thing is our older players do a great job of mentoring our younger players on being where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there," said Kelly. "Our leaders have been around here for a long time, and they do a really good job of setting the tone every day in terms of what it's supposed to look like when we get out there on the practice field."

Such a veteran presence in turn has allowed for an easier transition when new faces arrive as both freshmen or as transfers. UCLA has dipped into the portal plenty and, while not drawing the highest of high-profile players, the Bruins have found ones who can make an impact right away.

Leading receiver Jake Bobo is an excellent case in point. He arrived after a solid but unspectacular career at Duke and has since become the team’s leading receiver (averaging 16 yards a catch too). Speedster Kam Brown came over from Texas A&M prior to last season and is currently second on the team in touchdown catches behind Bobo.

Linebacker Darius Muasau was slightly undersized even in the Mountain West while making plays at Hawaii but has continued to do the same and is UCLA’s leading tackler. Gabriel and Grayson Murphy, twins who arrived together from North Texas in the spring, have been terrors off the edge rushing the passer or bursting into the backfield.

Perhaps the most celebrated of all the portal additions has been Zach Charbonnet, though. His arrival from Michigan has coincided with the team making a jump in the win column, and the tough running he does between the tackles is a big reason why. He leads the Pac-12 in rushing and is averaging more than seven yards per carry — good for fifth in the FBS.

Most telling of all, when Charbonnet runs for at least 100 yards, the Bruins are 11-0. When he gets rolling, in addition to the way Thompson-Robinson has been playing, it’s easy to understand why the program is off to its best start since 2005.

"I saw confidence last year in our team, so it's not like this is new to us," quipped Kelly this week.

Perhaps nothing new lately ahead of the Pac-12’s marquee clash this weekend. But, like Kelly’s counterparts on the other sideline, it's certainly a much different team and approach from the last time the Bruins arrived at Autzen.

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Bryan Fischer is a college football writer for FOX Sports. He has been covering college athletics for nearly two decades at outlets such as NBC Sports, CBS Sports, Yahoo! Sports and NFL.com among others. Follow him on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.