Washington football gets a reprieve from #Pac12AfterDark with an afternoon game against UCLA. Here’s everything you need to know about the game.
The Huskies had the good fortune of not playing on the national stage in Week 7 when the offense went cold in a 13-7 loss to unranked Arizona State. After having the off week to rest and recover, they’ll be out with a vengeance, determined to stay atop the Pac-12 race. To do that they’ll have to take care of business at home against an up-and-down UCLA Bruins team.
UCLA has lived and died on the arm of future first round draft pick Josh Rosen. As good as he’s been, the lack of a defense has been the Achilles heel for the Bruins. The UCLA defense posted their best outing of the year last weekend, defeating the Oregon Ducks 31-14.
The Bruins have only won back-to-back games once all year. That came in Week 1 and Week 2 after a miraculous comeback against the Texas A&M Aggies. Can they pull off the upset victory in Seattle on Saturday?
Here’s how you can watch UCLA take on Washington in Week 9:
Date: Saturday, Oct. 28
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Seattle, WA
Venue: Husky Stadium
TV: ABC
Live Stream: ABC Go
Keys to Victory
Jake Browning couldn’t get anything going against an Arizona State defense that had allowed 30 or more points in every game of the season to that point. It seemed to be one of those cliché games where everything went wrong. The leader of this team, the buck stops at Browning to get the offense back on track. If he can find Dante Pettis down the field against a porous UCLA defense his team should be in good shape.
UCLA needs to prove that last weekend wasn’t a fluke. Injuries have plagued the Oregon Ducks this season. Beating the Ducks handily doesn’t look as impressive in light of those losses, but as long as Josh Rosen is on the field they’ll have a fighting chance. If the Bruins win the turnover battle they’ll keep the UCLA offense on schedule and one step ahead of Washington.
Next: Updated 2018 NFL Mock Draft after Week 8
Prediction
Chris Petersen has had two weeks to prepare for a Jim Mora team that doesn’t play defense. Myles Gaskin and Pettis are two game-breakers that will make their presence felt on Saturday. Washington coasts to an easy victory that isn’t as close as the final score appears.
Final Score: Washington 38, UCLA 24