Pinned
Link copied
The UCLA Bruins need to shore up a defense that is allowing 35.36 points per matchup. UCLA and the California Golden Bears will face off in a Pac-12 battle at 10:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Rose Bowl. UCLA is expected to win -- but not by much -- so they will need to come into the contest prepared for a fight.
The game between the Bruins and the USC Trojans last week was not a total blowout, but with the Bruins falling 52-35, it was darn close. A silver lining for the Bruins was the play of QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who passed for 367 yards and three TDs on 44 attempts. Near the top of the highlight reel was Thompson-Robinson's 53-yard TD bomb to TE Devin Asiasi in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, it was all tied up 10-10 at the half for California and the Stanford Cardinal, but California stepped up in the second half. California managed a 24-20 win over Stanford. California QB Chase Garbers was slinging it as he picked up 72 yards on the ground on 13 carries and accumulated 285 passing yards. Garbers' performance made up for a slower matchup against USC two weeks ago.
California's victory lifted them to 6-5 while UCLA's defeat dropped them down to 4-7. A pair of stats to keep an eye on: The Bruins are 15th worst in the nation in yards allowed per game, with 460.3 on average. But the Golden Bears are stumbling into the matchup with the 10th fewest yards per game in the nation, having accrued only 314.9 on average. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
