UCLA Football: 3 bold predictions vs. Oregon in Week 8
By Dana Becker
1. Who do you trust, Mora or Taggart?
It feels like Jim Mora has been on the hot seat since his arrival at UCLA back in 2012, which isn’t too surprising considering his win total has fallen off each season since posting back-to-back 10-3 records in 2013 and ’14 that included bowl wins.
The Bruins went 8-5 in 2015 and lost the Foster Farms Bowl, following that up with a 4-8 campaign a season ago that left them home for the holidays. Mora did get a free pass on that one, though, as star quarterback Josh Rosen was lost for the season and the offense never recovered.
But sitting at 3-3, this is a crucial and possible make-or-break moment for the former NFL coach.
In the opposite corner stands Willie Taggart, a 41-year-old who turned both Western Kentucky and South Florida into conference title contenders in just three seasons. At WKU, Taggart went 2-10, 7-5 and 7-5, securing the position at USF in 2013.
After a 2-10 mark, South Florida went 4-8, 8-5 and 10-2 last year, helping push Oregon officials to sign Taggart.
Much like Mora last year, losing Herbert zapped some zest off the season the Ducks were having and forced Taggart to regroup on the offensive end.
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With Washington stumbling, USC slipping up once already and Washington State looking to bounce back, the Pac-12 has fallen a bit behind the rest of the Power-5 leagues. Mora and Taggart need to take advantage when they can, and the winner will have an outside chance at making a push to qualify for the conference title game in December.