UCLA Football: Josh Rosen’s injury could mean doom vs. Utah

UCLA football will be without the services of star quarterback Josh Rosen when they face Utah Friday night in a Pac-12 contest.

Rosen did not make the trip to Salt Lake City after suffering an injury last week in a loss to Washington. In his place will step redshirt freshman Devon Modster, who also replaced Rosen last Saturday for the fourth quarter.

Modster completed 7-of-12 passes for 77 yards with a touchdown, adding to his 1-for-3 performance for five yards earlier this year in mop-up duty vs. Hawai’i.

It is likely that he received plenty of reps this week in practice as there was plenty of speculation surrounding the status of Rosen. This will be Modster’s first career start.

UCLA coaches could also be getting a possible preview of what they might have next year under center if Rosen departs early for the NFL. Modster will need to fend off incoming top recruit Dorian Thompson-Robinson, but he will have two years in the system – assuming Jim Mora and his staff are retained.

The Bruins enter the game 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12, with Utah also 4-4 but just 1-4 in the league. The Utes are now almost a 10-point favorite to score the home victory.

This is the first game Rosen has missed this season. He is having his best year yet at UCLA, completing 63 percent of his passes for 2,713 yards and 20 touchdowns with just eight interceptions in 336 attempts.

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An injury last year caused Rosen to miss the final six games of the season and the Bruins went just 1-5 during that time.