Football Hosts Arizona State Saturday Night

GAME FIVE:
Venue: Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl
Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
Television (FS1): Chris Meyers, Mark Helfrich
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from Learfield): AM 1150
Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook reporter);
Sirius Ch. 119 / XM Ch. 197 / SXM App 959

UCLA will host Arizona State in Pac-12 play on Saturday, Oct. 2 on Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in a 7:30 p.m. game to be televised by FS1. The UCLA Learfield Radio Network will broadcast the contest, which will also be aired over SiriusXM and the Varsity App.

UCLA owns a 22-14-1 advantage in matchups with the Sun Devils, including a 10-7-1 mark in games played in the Rose Bowl. The Bruins have captured the past two meetings in the series (2020 and 2019) which started in 1976. No team has won more than two straight in the series since UCLA earned wins in three straight battles in the 2000, 2001 and 2003 seasons after ASU had won the three previous meetings (1995, 1996, 1999).

The Bruins enjoy a 22-14-1 overall advantage (10-7-1 edge in games played in the Rose Bowl) in the series against Arizona State, which started in 1976. UCLA is 2-1 versus the Sun Devils under head coach Chip Kelly, having won last season's contest in Tempe by a 25-18 score. UCLA jumped out to a 17-0 lead only to surrender 18 straight points to the Sun Devils who went up by one with 4:26 remaining in the fourth quarter. UCLA answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive over the next 3:17 to push back in front 25-18 following a two-point conversion. The UCLA defense then stopped ASU on its final drive to preserve the win.

Joshua Kelley ran for 164 yards and four touchdowns in UCLA's 42-32 win over ASU in the Rose Bowl in 2019. The Bruins carried a 42-10 lead into the fourth quarter before the then-No. 24 Sun Devils scored three late TDs. Kelley became the first Bruin since Myles Jack in 2013 (vs. Washington) to score four rushing touchdowns in a game. Stephan Blaylock led the UCLA defense with seven tackles and forced a fumble.

THE WATCHLIST
• UCLA is ranked No. 20 in both major polls ... this is the first time UCLA has played as a ranked team for a stretch of three straight games since 2015.
• The Bruins will be aiming to win the first two conference games of a season for the first time since it defeated Utah and California to begin 2013 Pac-12 slate.
• After winning the last two matchups in the series, UCLA will be looking to earn a third straight win over a Pac-12 opponent for the first time since the 2016 season when it captured the fifth of five straight wins over Arizona in the 2012-16 seasons.
• UCLA had never scored 35 or more points in six straight games until this season (dating back to 2020) - 38 vs. USC; 47 vs. Stanford; 44 vs. Hawai'i; 38 vs. LSU; 37 vs. Fresno St.; 35 vs. Stanford. Arizona State was the last team to hold UCLA below 35 points in a contest (last season's 25-18 Bruin win).
• Kyle Philips has recorded two straight 100 receiving yards games with multiple touchdowns to become just the fouth Bruin receiver since 1998 to have multiple games in a season with 100 receiving yards and two or more TDs in those games. Others: Thomas Duarte 2015 vs. ASU and Oregon State; Marcedes Lewis 2005 vs. Arizona and ASU; Danny Farmer 1998 vs. Oregon and Oregon State.
• With last week's victory at Stanford, UCLA earned a win in its initial road game of a season for the first time since a Sept. 12, 2015 victory at UNLV.
• Mitchell Agude has been credited with four forced fumbles in the first four games of 2021 and leads the NCAA with a 1.0 average per game. Linebackers Robert Thomas (2000) and Donnie Edwards (1993) share the UCLA record (dating back to 1975) with six forced fumbles in a season. Elvis Dumervil of Louisville holds the NCAA record (kept since 2000 by NCAA) for a season with 10 in 12 games during the 2005 season. The NCAA record for most in a game is four. Edwards holds the UCLA career mark, at 12, with records dating back to 1990. In 2020, Agude was credited with the forced fumble which was returned for a TD at Oregon and two forced fumbles vs. Arizona. He rated 10th nationally (0.43/game) last season.
• The Bruins are second in the Pac-12 in scoring and are flirting with the 40-points-per-game mark with an average of 38.5 through four games ... the Bruins have averaged 40 or more points per game just twice (dating to 1945) -- in 1973 (42.7) and 1954 (40.8) ... UCLA averaged more than 39 points in 2005, 1998, 1997 seasons.
• Kyle Philips (120 yards at Stanford; 113 vs. Fresno State) has five touchdown catches on the season to rate fifth in the NCAA and first in the Pac-12 in the category. Against Fresno State, Philips and Kam Brown (111) were the first Bruin receiving duo to record 100-yard games in the same contest since Philips and Devin Asiasi did so in a 2019 contest against USC. Brown also recorded his first-career college touchdown on a 39-yard pass against Fresno State.
• Dorian Thompson-Robinson is second in the NCAA (first in the Pac-12) with a 18.02 yard average on each completion ... he is third in the nation with an average of 11.13 yards per pass attempt ... he shares the Pac-12 lead with nine passing TDs ... DTR ranks 12th in the NCAA in passing efficiency at 175.2 ... UCLA has had only two starting QBs register at least a 160.0 pass efficiency mark for a season -- Drew Olson in 2005 (161.6) and Cade McNown in 1997 (168.6) ... versus Arizona State the past two seasons, DTR has completed 34 of 47 passes (.723) for 368 yards and three TDs with one interception.