UCLA football: 3 bold predictions for Pac-12 opener in Week 4 vs Stanford

3. Keller Chryst will rebound… but he will still be no Josh Rosen

After winning the starting job midway through last season, Keller Chryst looked ready to step up full-time in 2017. Chryst was decent in the opener against Rice in Sydney, throwing for 253 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers have dropped with each passing week, as Chryst has struggled more and more as the opponents have become more difficult.

At this point, Chryst is completing less than 53 percent of his passes and averaging fewer than 175 yards per game through the air. Against San Diego State, Chryst threw his first two interceptions of the season. They probably won’t be his last of the year, either, though he will look far better against UCLA than he has against the Trojans or the Aztecs.

He will rebound to complete somewhere around 16-of 28 for 250 yards and two touchdowns. Chryst, though, will toss another interception and look flustered at times when the pressure heats up in the pocket.

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In the end, Josh Rosen will outduel his quarterback counterpart on the road. Neither quarterback will be perfect, but Chryst is going to make a few more costly mistakes. And as a result, UCLA will get its first win at Stanford since 2008. While Chryst won’t look as bad as he has in recent weeks, he won’t do enough on Saturday to pull out a Stanford victory.