Will Big 12 Win Match-Ups Against Power Five? Vegas Big 12 Predictions for Week 3 Here.
Saturday Blitz Vegas Big 12 Predictions Week 3
Game of the Week
No. 12 UCLA Bruins at Texas Longhorns (AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas)
Line: UCLA by 7.5
This is a game between two teams looking to earn some respect back, albeit in different ways. The Texas Longhorns want to prove that they are not as bad as the team that got thumped by BYU last week, and UCLA wants to prove that the two close games it has had to pull out were simply flukes.
Texas’s great start during the Charlie Strong era with a victory over North Texas was nullified last week. It appears the injuries, suspensions, and dismissals finally took a hit as the Longhorns lost 41-7, and quarterback David Ash was missed severely as Tyrone Swoopes showed that he is competent but nothing special. If Texas is going to beat UCLA, they’ll need Swoopes to be a huge playmaker the way Paxton Lynch was for the Memphis Tigers last week against UCLA. The Bruins appear to have a weak pass defense, and Texas will want to use that to its advantage along with the Texas crowd to try to steal an upset win against UCLA. Swoopes showed a little mobility against BYU, but unfortunately Texas couldn’t get any running game going. Although they will want to win in the passing game, the running game will be important if they are to win this game.
UCLA, meanwhile, has got to shore up its defense if it is going to start beating major teams. Texas may have gotten blown out by BYU, but the Longhorns can’t be taken lightly. They can easily steal this game, and don’t forget that the Bruins needed a bunch of timely breaks to pull out their first win against Virginia. Then Memphis matched them in a shootout through three quarters, so this team looks like it could be exploited all over the field. It’s still early, but the Bruins and Brett Hundley have to finish drives as well. Hundley looked great last week but struggled to be consistent against Virginia, so what happens Saturday could depend on what Hundley shows up. He has got to capitalize, and the defense has to toughen up if they are going to win this game.
Prediction
UCLA has shown that it can move the ball and create turnovers, but it hasn’t shown its ability to simply stop people on defense. It won’t matter Saturday. Texas is too thin right now, and the offense is a huge problem, so while they’ll put up points, the Bruins offense appears to be finding its rhythm. That will make this game a pretty comfortable win for UCLA. Hundley will come out firing, and UCLA will never take its foot off the pedal.
UCLA: 34 Texas: 21