UCLA, Utah Set for Top-20 Matchup Saturday at Rose Bowl
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Rose Bowl Stadium
Kickoff Time: 12:40 p.m. PT
Television: FOX
TV Talent: Tim Brando (play-by-play), Spencer Tillman (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (sideline)
SiriusXM: Ch. 85/Ch. 198
SXM App: Ch. 960
THE MATCHUP
UCLA's first game of October is set for 12:30 p.m. PT Saturday on Spieker Field at Rose Bowl Stadium, where the Bruins, now ranked No. 18 in the AP Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the USA TODAY coaches poll, will host No. 11 Utah in a battle to be televised by FOX. The contest will be broadcast by the Bruin IMG Radio Network and aired over SiriusXM and the Varsity App.
UCLA will be looking to snap a five-game skein against the Utes, during which Utah has won the turnover battle by a combined 15-4 margin. The last Bruin series win came in the 2015 season. Utah has captured the last three meetings played in Pasadena, Calif., with UCLA's last victory in the Rose Bowl over the Utes coming in 2012.
The Utes (278.6 yards per game) and Bruins (318.0) are first and second this week in the Pac-12 in total defense, rushing attempts (195 - Utah, 193 - UCLA), passing efficiency (171.23 - Utah, 169.26 - UCLA) and completion percentage (73.4% - Utah, 69.7% - UCLA). The two teams are tied with Washington for the most offensive touchdowns scored this season, with 26 each. Utah (42.0) and UCLA (41.4) are each averaging more than 40 points per game.
UCLA handed then-No. 15 (AP) Washington a 40-32 setback last Friday night in the Rose Bowl for its eighth straight win and to go 2-0 in the Pac-12 for the first time since 2013. Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for three touchdowns to up his career total to 72, second on the all-time UCLA list. Receiver Jake Bobo caught two TD passes, the first time in his career he hauled in multiple scoring grabs. Zach Charbonnet ran for 124 yards on 22 carries for his 10th 100-yard game as a Bruin, all in winning efforts. UCLA opened the league slate in Boulder, Colo. with a 45-17 triumph over Colorado. It marked UCLA's sixth win in the last seven road outings.
AT A GLANCE
• The Rose Bowl is celebrating its 100th year of hosting some of the world's major sports and entertainment events in 2022.
• UCLA appears in the national polls for the first time this week — No. 19 in the USA TODAY coaches poll and No. 18 in the AP Top 25 poll. UCLA was ranked for three weeks in the 2021 season and rose as high as No. 13 in the AP poll following its 2-0 start.
• UCLA's eight-game win streak is tied for the second longest in FBS football behind only Clemson (11). Coastal Carolina also has won eight in a row.
• The UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame will add two inductees from football this weekend, current running backs coach DeShaun Foster and Ed Kezirian. Foster is third on UCLA's career rushing list and played seven years in the NFL before guiding future NFL backs Paul Perkins, Joshua Kelley and Demetric Felton Jr. as Bruins. Kezirian was an all-conference offensive lineman for the Bruins in 1973 and then served as a long-time assistant coach at UCLA under Terry Donahue.
• UCLA has not commited a turnover in its first two league games, at Colorado and versus Washington. Its last back-to-back such games were in 2020 wins versus Arizona and at Arizona State
• The Bruins have now won their first five games of a season for the first time since 2013 ... the last time it won more than five to begin a season was in 2005 when it captured the first eight ... UCLA last won its first two conference games to start a season in 2013 and last won more than the first two when it secured victories in its first five league games in 2005.
• The last time UCLA won eight straight games was 2005, when it won the first eight of that season ... UCLA last won more than eight when compiling its all-time best win streak of 20, over the 1997 and 1998 seasons.
• UCLA leads the overall series against Utah 11-8, but has dropped the last five meetings overall and the last three contests played in Pasadena, Calif. UCLA's last series win came in the 2015 campaign by a score of 17-9 in Salt Lake City. Its last home win over the Utes came in 2012.
• During its eight-game winning streak, UCLA has outscored the opposition 185-59 in the second halves of those contests.
• The last time UCLA won back-to-back contests against ranked opponents came in 2015 — wins versus No. 19 BYU and No. 16 Arizona.
TEAM NOTES
• UCLA has now won eight straight games. The Bruins last earned wins in eight straight contests when it opened the 2005 season with eight straight victories and rose to as high as No. 7 in the AP Top 25 poll.
• UCLA has won its last six home games (2021 - Colorado and California, 2022 - Bowling Green, Alabama State, South Alabama and Washington), which is its longest streak since it captured wins in all six home contests in 2017 ... the last time it won more than six straight was over the 2005 and 2006 seasons, when UCLA secured 10 straight home victories.
• UCLA has 10 season starts of better than 5-0 ... 2005 (8-0), 2001 (6-0), 1998 (10-0), 1988 (7-0), 1980 (6-0), 1967 (6-0), 1966 (7-0), 1954 (9-0), 1952 (8-0) and 1946 (10-0).
• The last time UCLA won all of its September games was 2015, when it went 4-0. UCLA has not won its first game in the month of October since a 45-24 decision over Arizona in the 2016 season.
•Top-10 Bruin NCAA rankings: total offense - eighth (506.4 yards per game), completion percentage - fourth (.734), rushing defense - sixth (80.4 yards per game) and third-down conversion percentage - sixth (.547).
• After the win at CU, UCLA has won six of the last seven road contests (lone loss at Utah in 2021) over the 2020-22 seasons. UCLA's 4-1 road record in 2021 was the best by a Pac-12 team and included wins at USC, Arizona, UW and Stanford.
• UCLA is +25 turnovers in wins and -27 in losses overall 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.
• UCLA is ranked eighth in the NCAA in total offense this week (506.4 yards per game) ... the Bruins compiled 626 yards of total offense in the win over BGSU, the most since it racked up 657 in a comeback win at Washington State Sept. 22, 2019. It is the third time in Coach Kelly's Bruin tenure the team has recorded 600 or more yards (also 609 at USC in 2021).
• UCLA is rated 30th in the nation in total defense (318.0 yards per game) entering the week ... it held BGSU to 162 yards of total offense in the opener (39 rushing, 125 passing), marking the first time UCLA held a team under 200 yards since its 2020 game against Cal (176). The last time a UCLA defense limited an opponent to fewer than 162 yards of total offense was 2008, when Arizona State gained 122 yards (21 rushing, 101 passing).
• UCLA scored three touchdowns of 50 yards or more against BGSU: Dorian Thompson-Robinson's 68-yard run, a 52-yard catch and run by Keegan Jones from Thompson-Robinson and a 50-yard strike from Ethan Garbers to Josiah Norwood. It had three such plays all of 2021.
UCLA HALL TO OFFICIALLY ADD NINE
Nine Bruin standouts will be officially inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, Oct. 7. The members of the class of 2022 are: Patrick Cantlay (men's golf), Gerrit Cole (baseball), DeShaun Foster (football), Linda Robertson Hanley (women's volleyball), Dawn Harper-Nelson (track & field), Kelly Inouye-Perez (softball coach), Ole Mikkelsen (men's soccer), Dave Saunders (men's volleyball) and Extraordinary Service honoree Ed Kezirian (football/administration).
The Hall of Fame class includes two current UCLA coaches in Inouye-Perez and Foster, the 2021 PGA Tour Player of the Year Cantlay, Olympic gold medalists Harper-Nelson and Saunders, five-time MLB All-Star Cole, UCLA soccer's all-time leading scorer Mikkelsen, three-time All-American and 1996 Olympian Robertson Hanley, and unbeaten football coach Kezirian. The class combined for 12 NCAA championships while at UCLA.
The class will be introduced at halftime of the UCLA-Utah football game.
For more, view the full UCLA football Week 6 release HERE.