UCLA Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Oregon in Week 8
By Dana Becker
3. Fireworks planned for Pasadena
Entering this weekend, the Oregon defense is allowing 30 points and over 460 yards each time they step on the field. Surprisingly, UCLA can actually top those numbers, surrendering an average of 40 points and 523 yards.
And for those that love to see the scoreboard light up, these two offenses do have that capability.
Oregon, led by senior running back Royce Freeman, has struggled since Justin Herbert went down with an injury. Still, Freeman continues to showcase his skills, running for 797 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns. He has four games with over 140 yards on the ground, but has not scored a touchdown since Sept. 23 vs. Arizona State.
But if the Ducks are going to make any noise in the Pac-12, they’ll need to get better play out of either Braxton Burmeister or Taylor Alie. The two have split duties under center in place of Herbert, but have just 397 combined passing.
On the season, Oregon is running for 244.6 yards per game and passing for 223. They are also allowing 246 yards through the air, which should delight Bruin quarterback Josh Rosen.
Rosen enters as one of the top passers in college football, throwing for 2,354 yards and 17 touchdowns. UCLA has started to find a ground game in recent weeks to balance things out, with Soso Jamabo running for 249 yards. Earlier this year he had 100 yards vs. Stanford and added 70 vs. Colorado in a win.