UCLA Football: 2017 Game-by-game predictions

With a healthier offense in 2017, UCLA football hopes to make up for the loss of defensive talent. Will it be enough to contend in the PAC-12 South this season?

Last year, UCLA tumbled to a 4-8 record and missed out on a bowl game for the first time since the Rick Neuheisel era. After hopes of a dark-horse run at a national title last year, the Bruins lost their opening game to Texas A&M in overtime and continued to slip down the standings from there. Their only two Pac-12 wins came against Arizona and Oregon State, both at home.

UCLA, though, wasn’t necessarily as bad as their record asserted. Four of their losses came by a touchdown or less, and better luck could easily turn the Bruins into a bowl-eligible team. Injuries derailed last year’s dreams of contending for the conference and a New Year’s Six berth, and Jim Mora’s team will be keen to turn those stalled dreams into belated reality.

They will have to do so with an experienced offense. Josh Rosen returns at quarterback, healthy again after injuries cut his 2016 campaign short, as do eight other starters. But the defense is going to have to retool quickly after losing six starters. Four players from last year’s dominant defensive unit were selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. No level of the defense was immune from the losses.

But after five straight years of top-20 recruiting classes, the fan base has reason to be confident about a rebound in 2017. How far the Bruins can go depends on how well the defense emerges as a group and whether Rosen remains healthy. Can the Bruins actually threaten the favorites in the Pac-12 this year? Click ahead for our game-by-game predictions for the 2017 UCLA season.