NFL Tickets
TV Schedule: Saturday, October 31, 3:00 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Network
Stadium: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, Ca.
Line: UCLA (-21)
Much was expected of the UCLA Bruins this year, and there’s really no reason why it shouldn’t have been. They have a coach in Jim Mora Jr. who has coached at the pro level. They have Josh Rosen behind center; and in the Pac-12, where the offenses seem to look more like the ones at the pro level, he should be good enough to vault you into the top 25 in college football.
The Bruins may be sitting a little lower in the rankings than they deserve to be, but no one expected this team to contend for a playoff spot. By all accounts, most would agree their record looks exactly like we would have guessed prior to the start of the season (minus a loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils at home). You probably would have also predicted the Stanford Cardinal to hand them a loss. If so, you were absolutely dead on with that one.
Rosen’s gifted and has a higher upside than many of the starting quarterbacks on better teams, but against the more talented teams he’s faced, he hasn’t actually risen to the occasion. See his three interception performance against the BYU Cougars, his two interception performance against Stanford where he barely completed 52 percent of his passes, or his 22 completions on 40 attempts against the Sun Devils. He threw a pass to the wrong jersey in that one as well.
Fortunately for him, the Colorado Buffaloes are next on the schedule, and no one will mistake them for elite. Rosen also has the luxury of turning around and handing the ball to Paul Perkins who has 754 yards on the ground so far this season, a six yard per carry average and has found the end zone eight times. Colorado, by winning last week, celebrated their first conference victory since 2013. Their quarterback, Sefo Liufau, has looked good at times and actually has better stats and a higher completion percentage than Rosen; but other than the fact that this team has shown an ability to put up some points, there isn’t really a reason to believe they’ll enjoy a second straight conference victory.
Vegas believes UCLA will win by three touchdowns. Expect a UCLA victory. Just don’t expect them to cover the spread.
Prediction: UCLA 38, Colorado 24
Geoffrey Knox is a Writer for ACC Basketball and SEC Football for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @gq_4_eva, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+.
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