Chip Kelly is preparing for his second season in command of the UCLA football program. How much improvement can he make before next season begins?
Many would agree that Coach Chip Kelly and UCLA football failed to live up to the hype prior to the 2018 season. The Bruins ended the year 3-9 and finished near the bottom of the Pac-12 standings.
And although the season was an overall disappointment, there are still reasons to be optimistic about the 2019 season.
Let’s go game-by-game and take a look at how the Bruins’ 2019 season could very well turn out after spring ball.
The UCLA Bruins opened up their 2018 season at home against Cincinnati. At the time, the 26-17 loss was a serious “letdown” for many UCLA fans. Little did we know that this was just the beginning of one of Cincinnati’s best years in school history as the Bearcats finished the year 11-2.
In 2019, UCLA will have to travel to Cincinnati to kick off the season. This will be our first opportunity to see how much growth quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has made over the off-season. The Bishop Gorman (Nev.) High alum will be in his second season with UCLA and has high expectations in Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense.
In a close game, the Bruins will pull out the win.
Final: UCLA 27, Cincinnati 24 (1-0)
Rocky Long will be in his ninth season leading San Diego State. In Week 2 against UCLA, San Diego State will likely be coming off a strong win over Weber State and teams usually make their biggest improvements on the season between Week 1 and 2.
With that said, San Diego State will likely be making its biggest jump between Week 2 and 3 due to Weber State not being a quality opponent in preparation for the Bruins.
The Bruins, on the other hand, will be coming off a confidence-boosting win over Cincinnati. Furthermore, playing in Pasadena will improve the odds for UCLA.
Lastly, San Diego State lost its best offensive weapon, running back Rashaad Penny, to the NFL two years ago. Penny was an incredibly explosive athlete for the Aztecs and was selected 27th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Last season, Juwan Washington fell short in filling Penny’s role. This caused the Aztecs to finish just fourth in the Mountain West Conference.
The Aztecs will continue to struggle on offense just as they will struggle to compete against UCLA.
Final: UCLA 31, San Diego St 14 (2-0)
Well, in 2018 the Bruins got beat pretty badly by Oklahoma as Kyler Murray and Co. dismantled UCLA 49-21 at home.
But this year, things are going to be different, right?
The Sooners’ star quarterback, and 2018 Heisman Trophy winner, is long gone. Furthermore, Dorian Thompson-Robinson will have had a full year and a few games under his belt before taking on the Sooners.
Last year, the matchup against the Sooners was his first college football start and first away game. This game will be played in the comforts of the Rose Bowl.
And yet, this still won’t be enough to knock off one of the most dominating teams in the sport. Lincoln Riley is still with the Sooners and he has a fresh quarterback to mold as another Heisman Trophy winner, Jalen Hurts. He took Alabama to back-to-back national championships and contributed to a third.
Despite the momentum and home-field advantage in the Bruins’ favor, Oklahoma will not be upset by UCLA.
Final: UCLA 17, Oklahoma 42 (2-1)
Unfortunately for UCLA, it has another huge uphill battle following their game against the Oklahoma Sooners.
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The Bruins have to jump on a plane just a week later to face Washington State. However, the good news is that Gardner Minshew is no longer under center for Mike Leach’s offense. The talented quarterback, who passed for over 4,779 yards and a completion rate of over 70 percent, left a gaping hole to be filled this season.
It’s still undetermined who will take over for Minshew. Despite the replacement options being inexperienced, we should be certain that Leach will prepare his team appropriately.
Going up against the most underrated coach in college football, playing in Washington, and coming off a tough loss to Oklahoma will prove to be too much for the Bruins. Chip Kelly will have his team prepared to compete, but not prepared enough to win. The Cougars win a close one.
Final: UCLA 24, Washington St 31 (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12)
Well Khalil Tate didn’t go “to Arizona to run the triple-option”. He infamously tweeted that while Arizona was still in its search for its new head coach. Ultimately, Kevin Sumlin was hired over the triple-option expert, Ken Niumatalolo.
The Wildcats went 5-7 last season and finished toward the bottom of the Pac-12. Should Arizona have hired Niumatalolo, and transitioned to a triple-option offense, the season would have likely gone much differently.
When Paul Johnson left Navy and took the triple-option to Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets dominated the ACC the first few seasons. Their conference opponents had never prepared for a triple-option team giving them a tremendous advantage. The same would have likely occurred at Arizona.
Instead, the Wildcats are locked in a mediocre situation which may take years of rebuilding. UCLA will be tired of losing and will dominate this Arizona team.
Final: UCLA 35, Arizona 10 (3-2, 1-1)
The picture above describes the Oregon State Beavers’ 2018 season. In their first game of the season, Ohio State put up 77 points against the Beavers. Sure, Dwayne Haskins and that Buckeye offense was incredible but 77 points? Yikes.
This season won’t be much different. The Beavers finished dead last in the Pac-12 in 2018 with a 2-10 record and 1-8 in conference play.
Easy. UCLA wins.
This game will start a win streak for UCLA. However, it will do much more for than just add another mark in the win column.
The ease of opponent will allow many second and third string players to see real playing time. In turn, the starters will have an opportunity to rest and recover at an opportune time in the season. The win will continue to boost the confidence of Dorian Thompson-Robinson and the rest of the team.
Final: UCLA 44, Oregon State 24 (4-2, 2-1)
The game against the Stanford Cardinal may be even closer this season than it was in 2018. Last year, the Cardinal edged out the Bruins 49-42 in an intense battle in Los Angeles. UCLA was playing its last game of Chip Kelly’s inaugural season and it was truly leaving it all out on the field. Stanford was limping to victory since many of their best players were dealing with injuries.
Star running back Bryce Love was one of those players who dealt with a lower body injury for much of the 2018 season but he won’t be returning to Stanford this season, nor will the dominant J.J. Arcega-Whiteside.
The success of the Bruins in this game will rest on the health of one Cardinal: KJ Costello. Since the game will be played at Stanford, Costello will be quite comfortable running the offense but he can’t do that if he is sidelined.
Costello will likely be banged up by mid-October and UCLA will be coming off a confidence-building game and a bye week. All of that will be just enough to beat Stanford.
Final: UCLA 41, Stanford 40 (5-2, 3-1)
OK, confession time. I am quite biased and no, not toward UCLA.
I’m a huge Herm Edwards fan.
In his first season with Arizona State, he led the Sun Devils to a 7-6 record. The year was highlighted by an upset win over No. 15 Michigan State and a win over rival Arizona to conclude the regular season.
But despite my favoritism toward Edwards, I know that the Sun Devils won’t beat this UCLA team. Arizona State lost its best player in N’Keal Harry to the NFL. He dominated the Pac-12 over the past few years and heavily contributed to the limited success that the Sun Devils enjoyed.
The Bruins will add another win to their season and begin to gain recognition as a top contender for the Pac-12 title.
UCLA wins big at home as they move into November.
Final: UCLA 42, Arizona State 13 (6-2, 4-1)
Boy, was the 2018 season a total disaster for Colorado. The Buffaloes began the year with five straight wins — three of those wins were against quality Power Five teams(Nebraska, UCLA, and Arizona State).
However, the collapse began with a loss against a mediocre USC team. Colorado never bounced back from the loss and failed to win another game all year. So, which Colorado team are we going to see in November of 2019? Well based on probability, we are most likely to see something in the middle.
Colorado quarterback, Steven Montez, will be returning for his senior season. He’s a talented player who will be among the best in the Pac-12. But, he’s only one man who can only do so much. With Montez running the offense, the Buffaloes will remain competitive in many games.
Chip Kelly’s offense will be running quite smoothly and the Colorado defense will be no match.
Final: UCLA 35, Colorado 20 (7-2, 5-1)
Utah represented the Pac-12 South in last year’s conference title game. In that contest, the Utes lost an uneventful matchup against the Washington Huskies, 10-3. Frankly, that game was an embarrassment for the Pac-12 conference as a whole — it was boring and uninteresting.
Despite a disappointing end to the 2018 season, Utah is still a good team. However, there are a handful of questions that need answered before we can truly assess how this Utah team will turn out.
Last season, Jason Shelly took over under center when Tyler Huntley’s season ended due to a broken collarbone and played well. Who will start this year?
Additionally, the Utes lost three starting offensive linemen, two of whom were first-team All-Pac-12. Can they replace those key players?
There are too many important questions to have any confidence in Utah. But, they have two solid options at quarterback and a third (Cameron Rising, a Texas transfer) who can also fill in.
The game is in Utah and the Utes have a bye week prior to hosting UCLA, giving them ample time to prepare. So with that, UCLA will lose their first game since mid-September.
Final: UCLA 17, Utah 27 (7-3, 5-2)
This is the most important game of the year. A sub-par season can easily be saved by a big win over the USC Trojans.
Before the 2018 season, I detailed why the UCLA Bruins would be the better team in Los Angeles. Was I wrong? It all depends on who you ask.
The Trojans posted a better record than UCLA — 5-7 compared to 3-9. So in that sense, I was wrong. However, UCLA’s starting quarterback, fifth-year Michigan-transfer Wilton Speight, did get injured on the very first game of the season. The Trojans’ true freshman quarterback, JT Daniels, was much better than expected. Those two facts were unforeseeable.
Fortunately, we got to see these two teams play each other and guess what happened? UCLA won 34-27.
The 2019 matchup will be no different. Daniels will be an even better manager of the USC offense but at the same time, the Bruins will be an improved team.
This year’s game will be played at the Los Angeles Coliseum, giving the Trojans home-field advantage and it will be close an even closer game than 2018’s.
Final: UCLA 24, USC 21 (8-3, 6-2)
The Cal Golden Bears had a similar start to their 2018 season as Colorado. They won their first three games, then lost the next four. But unlike Colorado, the Golden Bears recovered from a mini-collapse. In that recovery, Cal posted an impressive win over the Washington Huskies.
This season finale will be all about the UCLA Bruins.
As previously mentioned, the Bruins played their heart out in the last game of the season in 2018 against Stanford. Chip Kelly will inspire the same type of performance against an easier opponent, Cal. It will cap of a tremendous turnaround by Kelly and Co. The Bruins will complete a momentous season at home in late-November.
With a 10-3 record, the Bruins may even be in contention to represent the Pac-12 South in the conference championship game. Of course, the rest of the division has different plans. Utah will be the toughest challenger from the South. USC will contend as well.
Final: UCLA 21, Cal 10 (10-3, 7-2)