Josh Rosen’s UCLA receiving targets become predictable

UCLA freshman quarterback Josh Rosen has his favorite targets. He has developed on-field connections with receivers Jordan Payton and Thomas Duarte.

Payton has 25 receptions for 392 yards and three touchdowns. Thomas Duarte has 18 for 274 and four touchdowns. They account for 43 of Rosen’s 102 completions.

All of which has led to Rosen become a little predictable.

“In this offense, their spots do catch a lot of balls,” offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone said, referring to the Bruins’ top two receivers. “They always have in this sort of thing.”

Mazzone said Rosen was, “starting to develop some me-to-you factor,” and “he has some comfort in those guys.”

Rosen threw 40 passes in a 38-23 loss to Arizona State on Oct. 3, 21 in the direction of either Payton or Duarte.

Devin Fuller is the only other receiver who has double-digit receptions. He has 11 for 89 yards and one touchdown.

Eldridge Massington has five receptions for 49 yards. Darren Andrews has five receptions for 60 yards, and Kenneth Walker III has three for 50.

Last season, with Brett Hundley at quarterback, the Bruins had seven players with 23 or more receptions, led by Payton’s 67.

“That was just a quarterback who had played in the system for three years and understood it,” Mazzone said.

Massington has an idea how to improve his production.

“I guess I got to run better routes or something,” said the sophomore, who had 25 receptions and averaged 14.7 yards per catch last season. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t let it get to me I just keep working. You never know when your shot is going to come. If I get frustrated, start pouting, and the ball comes to me, I’ll drop it or something bad happens.

“I got to have a good mind-set about it. If you don’t, you’ll drive yourself crazy.”

Bombs away

UCLA’s offense “lives and dies on explosive plays,” Mazzone said.

The Bruins died against Arizona State and will face a physical Stanford team on Thursday.

The Cardinal, Mazzone said, makes you be patient: “They make you execute. They make you make mistakes. Obviously, they have done a damn good job of that the last four times we played them.”

Actually, it’s seven. The Bruins have not beaten Stanford since 2008. But Mazzone has only been at UCLA for the last four losses, all of which he has perused during the past week.

“We’re all neurotic and paranoid,” Mazzone said. “We go back and look at every time we played them.”

Familiar foe

Stanford’s no-frills offense looks familiar to Tom Bradley, UCLA’s first-year defensive coordinator.

Bradley coached 30 seasons at Penn State, the last 11 as defensive coordinator. “I’ve seen this type of look in the Big Ten,” he said. “I don’t know if it was as precise or as well run as they do it.”

The hardest part of preparation has been finding the bulk during practice to mimic Stanford, which utilizes big tight ends. UCLA recruits players for a spread offense.

“It’s hard for us to find the big bodies they have, the mass of humanity they put out on the field,” Bradley said.

Rick Wade, a 6-foot-6, 255-pound defensive end who the Bruins are hoping to redshirt this season, has been playing the role of Stanford tight end during practice this week.

Nice work

The Bruins’ loss to Arizona State seems to have left some at UCLA happy with any small victory.

On Monday, the official Twitter account for UCLA’s athletic department posted, “Congrats Bruins, you survived the bye week. Now let’s get focused on Thursday.”

chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter: @cfosterlatimes