Preview: Arizona Football may have a tough showdown with UCLA

After another bye week, Arizona Football (2-1) will have a potentially tough match-up with the UCLA Bruins (1-3) fresh off a big win.

We’re in the thick of the 2019 Arizona Football season, and after a surprising turnaround from the disastrous loss to Hawaii, the Wildcats may have found some confidence and momentum, coming off two-straight wins. However, the road gets significantly more difficult from here on out.

Disregards the Bruins’ record coming in to this game, as UCLA is coming off a big win over ranked Washington State and that should give them some confidence heading into this one. Add in that Arizona is also coming off another bye week, and this is a very important match-up for the Cats.

Arizona Wildcats

Against Texas Tech, we saw an improved, defensive effort from Arizona, but as we should be familiar with and have learned over the past few years, it’s that the Wildcats have not had back-to-back good defensive performances under Defensive Coorinator, Marcel Yates.

Last year Arizona was not only marred by injuries, but importantly by inconsistencies. Early in to the 2019 season, it’s hard to say if the Wildcats have fixed this.

However, hopefully with the week off, it helped to get some guys healthy, as well as allow the defense to have more time to gel. Additionally, I hope the Wildcats were able to take a good look at the Bruins, especially as they erased a 32-point deficit to come back and win against Washington State.

So what should we expect? I’m thinking this is going to be a tough game, and one that Arizona needs complete focus on!

With that said, here’s our preview:

Know Thy Foe:

Team: UCLA Bruins (1-3, 1-0)

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

2018 Record: 3-9 (3-6); lost to Stanford 49-42 to end the season last year.

Head Coach: Chip Kelly enters his second season with the Bruins, and things haven’t been harmonious to say the least. After previously finding great success at Oregon, followed by some up and down years in the NFL, Chip is back at the collegiate level and is trying to recapture his success from his years with the Ducks.

Overall, he is 50-19 as an FBS head coach, and more specifically is 4-12 (4-6) while at UCLA. Despite the team being 1-3 this season, they still have tons of talent, and are finally getting healthy and guys back on defense that could help them. Add the fact that they are coming off a big win over ranked Washington State and this is going to be a tough game in my opinion.

Key Returners/ Starters: Offensively, the Bruins are led by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and will heavily rely on talented players like RB Joshua Kelly, WR Demetric Felton, Jaylen Erwin, Chase Cota and TE Devin Asiasi among others in the offense.

Defensively, things have been rough for the Bruins ranking 125th overall, compared to Arizona’s 120th. However, they do have plenty of athletes, including leading tacklers Krys Barnes and Elijah Gates.

Also, look for players like Osa Odighizuwa, Lokeni Toailoa and Leni Toailoa to potentially make an impact. Make no mistake, the Bruins have talent!

Key Injuries: 

Arizona

• Khalil Tate was banged up against Texas Tech, but should be good to go against UCLA
• J.J. Taylor was nicked up against the Red Raiders as well, so it’ll be interesting to see how ready he is.

UCLA

• Bo Calvert (LB) – Has been suspended eight games due to a violation of NCAA rules
• Tyree Thompson (LB) – Will miss an significant time after having surgery on his foot

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, September 28th, 2019

Time: 7:30 PM MST

Watch: ESPN

Where: Arizona Stadium (Tucson, AZ)

Spread: -7.5 Arizona 

Overall Series Record: 25-16-2 UCLA. The Wildcats and the Bruins have met many times, and UCLA holds the definite, head-to-head match-up, although over the past 14 match-ups, it’s been pretty even, with the Cats and Bruins each having seven wins.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: UCLA beat Arizona last season 31-30 in Pasadena, with the Wildcats using Rhett Rodriguez at quarterback.

My Prediction: Arizona 38 UCLA 34. I think this is going to be a hard-fought game. Despite the record, I think the Bruins have a lot of talent to still be able to beat the Cats. Plus, there’s nothing like coming off a win over ranked Washington State the week before to give you confidence.

Ultimately, I think Arizona has the advantage because it’s at home, but the Bruins got the win last year after coming off a win against Cal, and now they face Arizona after earning their first win of the season. Granted I think the difference is having a healthy Tate, but this game is going to be tougher than I think many are anticipating, and while I think Arizona should, the Cats need this win in a bad way.

At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping the Cats can come out focused and ready for a fight. This should be a winnable game for Arizona, it just depends on which team shows up! As always, Bear Down, Arizona and Beat the Bruins!