Football Opens 2022 Season Saturday at Rose Bowl
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Rose Bowl Stadium
Kickoff Time: 11:31 a.m. PT
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Roxy Bernstein (play-by-play), Lincoln Kennedy (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 1150
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (sideline)
SiriusXM: Ch. 85/Ch. 198
SXM App: Ch. 960
UCLA's 2022 schedule will feature eight home games on Spieker Field at the Rose Bowl, including the first three contests of the season and five of the first six games. The Bruins have not hosted eight home games since the 1942 season. UCLA concluded the 2021 campaign with wins in its last three games and will open 2022 against Bowling Green on September 3 in a 11:30 a.m. contest to be broadcast by the Pac-12 Network. The Bruin IMG Radio Network will broadcast the contest, which will also be aired over SiriusXM and the Varsity App.
The Bowling Green battle will be the first of three straight home non-conference games to begin the 2022 season. The Bruins are 66-32-5 all-time in season openers. It will be the second straight home season-opener for UCLA after it started the 2021 slate with a win over Hawai'i in the Rose Bowl a year ago.
UCLA has added six new assistant coaches to Chip Kelly's staff for 2022: Tim Drevno (offensive line), Jeff Faris (tight end), Chad Kauha'aha'a (defensive line), Ikaika Malloe (outside linebackers, special teams coordinator), Bill McGovern (defensive coordinator) and Ken Norton Jr. (inside linebackers). Transfers who have joined the 2022 team include: WR Jake Bobo (Duke), WR Ryan Cragun (Pennsylvania), DB Jaylin Davies (Oregon), OL Liam Douglass (USC), DB Azizi Hearn (Wyoming), QB Sean Holland (Fordham), OL Jaylan Jeffers (Oregon), LB Laiatu Latu (Washington), WR Titus Mokiao-Atimalala (UCF), LB Darius Muasau (Hawai'i), DL Gabriel Murphy (North Texas), DL Grayson Murphy (North Texas), OL Raiqwon O'Neal (Rutgers), DL Gary Smith III (Duke) and DL Jacob Sykes (Harvard).
AT A GLANCE
• The Rose Bowl is celebrating its 100th year of hosting some of the world's major events in 2022.
• UCLA finished 8-4 in 2021. Its 6-3 conference record was good for a second-place tie in the Pac-12 South. The Bruins went 4-3 in the Rose Bowl and 4-1 on the road last season. Their wins at USC, Stanford, Arizona and Washington represented the most of any Pac-12 team on the road in 2021.
• UCLA posted a 2-1 record against non-conference opponents last season, logging wins over Hawai'i and LSU and a loss to Fresno State. Each of this year's non-conference opponents will be meeting UCLA for the first time. The last time UCLA posted wins in each non-conference game to start a season was in 2015, posting wins versus Virginia, at UNLV and against BYU.
• UCLA closed the 2021 season with three straight wins, dispatching of Colorado, USC and California while scoring at least 40 points in each contest. UCLA outscored the opposition 93-16 in the second halves of these games. The last time UCLA previously capped off a season with wins in its last three games was in 1997.
• UCLA rushed for at least 200 yards in each of its eight 2021 wins.
• Dorian Thompson-Robinson became just the third Bruin starting quarterback (joining Cade McNown in 1997 and 1998 and Brett Hundley in 2013 and 2014) to put together back-to-back seasons with a passing efficiency rating of150.0 or higher (156.3 in 2020 and 153.9 in 2021).
• Thompson-Robinson led the Pac-12 in total offense per game (274.4), passing efficiency (153.9) and passing yards per completion (13.7).
• UCLA led the Pac-12 in scoring (36.5 points per game) in 2021 — the sixth-best average in school history.
• Zach Charbonnet was second in the Pac-12 in rushing in 2021 (94.8 yards per game) and led league rushers with seven 100-yard games.
• UCLA ranked 14th in the NCAA and second in the Pac-12 with a rushing-yards-per-game average of 215.1.
TEAM NOTES
• UCLA led the Pac-12 in scoring offense (36.5 points per game), team passing efficiency (147.7) and punt returns (20.0 yards per return) in 2021.
• UCLA clinched a tie for second place in the South Division with its win over California in the last game of the 2021 regular season, securing the program's highest finish in the South since it tied for second in 2014. Both teams went 6-3. The Bruins last had as many as eight wins in 2015 (8-5) and last produced more than eight wins in 2014, when it went 10-3 overall.
• UCLA closed the 2021 regular season by winning its last three games and scoring at least 40 points in each contest ... the last time UCLA scored 40 or more points in four straight games was in 1998.
• UCLA finished with the best road record among Pac-12 teams in 2021 league games, at 4-1. It was the best road conference record by a Bruin team since it went 4-0 in 2014.
• The 2021 Bruins won a sixth conference game in a season for the first time since the 2014 team also went 6-3.
• In winning its last three games of the 2021 regular season, UCLA outscored its opponents 93-16 in the second halves of the three games — including shutouts of Colorado (34-0) and California (25-0).
• UCLA won three straight games to end the 2021 regular season ... the last time UCLA won four straight games was over the first four games of the 2015 season. The last time UCLA finished a season with three straight wins previously was 1997.
• UCLA is +20 turnovers overall in wins and -27 in losses under head coach Chip Kelly... in 2021, UCLA was +5 in turnovers for the season, but committed seven of its 14 turnovers in its four 2021 losses ... in its four 2020 losses, UCLA committed 12 of its 13 turnovers on the season.
• On the ground, UCLA finished 2021 with a 215.1 yards-per-game average (14th in NCAA, second in Pac-12); opponents finished at 124.2 (23rd NCAA, second in Pac-12 in rushing defense).
For more, view the full UCLA football Week 1 release HERE.