Saturday Blitz
Fansided

UCLA faces must-win at Stanford to stay alive in Pac-12

By William Murphy

facebooktwitterreddit

Both fresh off a bye week, the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins face off Thursday night in the premier Pac-12 matchup of Week 7

The thriving No. 15 Stanford Cardinal host the biggest Pac-12 matchup of the week this Thursday night, as they face off against the No. 18 UCLA Bruins at home. The Cardinal started off the season with a tough loss to Northwestern, but after four impressive wins they’ve quickly risen to the top of the Pac-12 North. The Bruins, fresh off the their first loss of the season, will be looking to bounce back into the win column against Stanford.

More from Pac-12

A win won’t be easy for either team, though, as UCLA and Stanford are both very talented teams. Both have tough defenses that top the conference in yards allowed per game, although Stanford’s defense has shown more ability in guarding both the run and the pass. Both teams also have talented offenses with competent quarterbacks and deep rushing and receiving units. Such a close matchup is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

With both teams fighting in a close conference, a victory here would be an early statement win for either team. With both teams hoping to pursue a playoff bid, a win here will also be crucial for their championship hopes.

Details for Sunday’s game are below:

Date: Thursday, October 15

Start Time: 10:30 PM ET/7:30 PT

Location: Stanford, CA

Stadium: Stanford Stadium

TV Info: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Radio: UCLA Sports Network, ESPN Radio, Sirius XM 84

Ticket information: For Stanford ticket info click here. For UCLA ticket info click here.

Keys to Victory

For Stanford, getting to a victory mainly involves staying the course. Stanford has been somewhat more efficient over UCLA in almost every aspect. One thing to focus on would be to take advantage of UCLA’s weaker rushing defense, which is ninth in the Pac-12 in rushing yards allowed per game (197). Utilizing running backs Christian McCaffrey and Barry Sanders will definitely help the Cardinal defeat the Bruins.

UCLA have a somewhat larger challenge in taking on Stanford. Freshman Quarterback Josh Rosen play has been satisfactory, although his 60.7% completion rate hasn’t been the best. UCLA should focus on utilizing the variety of talented skill position players they have on offense, to try to counter Stanford’s diverse skills on defense.

Other than that, there isn’t many aspects that will really push one team past the other in a substantial way. As stated, these teams are somewhat evenly matched. Although UCLA has the bigger challenge ahead of them, it’ll take a big team effort from either squad to get the W in this matchup.

Prediction

Expect this game to be a close one, but Stanford definitely has the edge. Look for the skilled Cardinal defense to smother UCLA’s offense. When facing the most comparable defense ability-wise on their schedule in Arizona State, the Bruins got stuffed by the Sun Devils, putting up a measly 62 rushing yards and completing only 55% their passes in the loss.

Senior quarterback Kevin Hogan and his experienced offense should win out over UCLA’s defense as well. If running back Christian McCaffrey sees the same reps he’s been getting throughout the season, look forward to seeing his fourth consecutive 100+ rushing yard game against the Bruins’ mediocre run defense. Hogan and his deep receiving core should do some work as well.

Overall, if Stanford keeps playing like they have been, they’ll be hard to stop.

Final Score: Stanford: 35, UCLA: 28

Next: Top 30 College Mascots of All-Time

More from Saturday Blitz

Home/Pac-12