UCLA’s Noel Mazzone: I need to be a more ‘aggressive’ playcaller

UCLA’s offense has trended toward the ground in the past few weeks. In the Bruins’ last three first halves, they have run the ball on 44 first downs while passing on only 19. In Saturday’s loss against Arizona State, they handed the ball off to tailback Paul Perkins to start five straight first downs — despite the Sun Devils stacking the box.

Asked about the shift, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said the changes have been due more to his decisions rather than anything he’s seen in the on-field matchups.

“I was not nearly as aggressive as a playcaller as I should be at this point,” Mazzone said Thursday. “It’s like life. If you wake up in the morning and you get out of bed, and all you’re worrying about is not making mistakes, you might as well not get your ass up out of bed. You might as well stay in bed.

“You’ve got to go out and freaking be aggressive. You make mistakes, you make mistakes. Maybe there’s a little bit of truth in that, but what the heck? We all learn.”

Mazzone also dismissed freshman Josh Rosen’s three-interception game against BYU to end nonconference play as a potential reason for shying away from early passes.

“I’ve got total confidence in our quarterback and total confidence in the rest of the kids in that offense,” he said. “It’s my job to put them in the right position to have success. That falls on my shoulders, not on their shoulders.”