Preview: UCLA football schedule prediction breakdown

Saturday, Aug. 30 @ Virginia

UCLA should ease its way into the new season with its opener against Virginia. The Cavaliers went 2-10 last season and 0-8 in a fairly weak ACC, outside of Florida State, Clemson and Duke. Although the Cavaliers managed to sign two five-star defensive recruits, they don’t figure to be significantly improved immediately. Virginia does have a decent pass defense, though last year’s stats don’t do the secondary much justice; the Cavailiers ranked 67th in the nation in passing yards allowed.

Prediction: The Bruins should cruise to a win in their season opener.

Saturday, Sept. 6 v. Memphis

The Bruins’ home opener against the Memphis Tigers also does not figure to be too challenging. Memphis was 3-9 last season and 1-7 in conference play, finishing last in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers were ranked No. 108 in passing yards allowed last year, meaning redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley could be in for a big day in game two.

Prediction: UCLA gets out to a big lead early and wins by more than 20 points.

Saturday, Sept. 13 @ Texas

UCLA’s first true test comes in its third game, as it travels to Arlington, Texas to face the Texas Longhorns at AT&T; Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. The two teams have split their last two matchups, with the Longhorns winning most recently, in 2012. Texas just missed out on a spot inside the AP Top 25 preseason poll, earning the third most votes in the “others receiving votes” category. But by the time Week 3 arrives, the Longhorns may have crept their way into the rankings, playing North Texas and BYU in their first two games. Texas also takes the field this year with new coach Charlie Strong at the helm. Strong started off his Texas coaching career as a disciplinarian, recently dismissing five players from the program and suspending three projected starters indefinitely. Whether those three players – running back Daje Johnson, offensive tackle Desmond Harrison and safety Josh Turner – will be reinstated by Sept. 13 is still unclear.

Prediction: UCLA leads narrowly at halftime before breaking the game open in the second half to win.

Thursday, Sept 25 @ No. 19 Arizona State

Unlike the start of non-conference play at the beginning of the season, the Bruins won’t get a chance to ease their way into Pac-12 play. UCLA’s conference opener comes against a team that has given the Bruins their fare share of trouble in recent years. The Sun Devils eked out a 38-33 victory at the Rose Bowl last season, while the Bruins won by a combined three points in the two meetings before that. Arizona State did lose last year’s starting running back Marion Grice, as well as two of their biggest players – 322-pound defensive tackle Will Sutton and 243-pound outside linebacker Carl Bradford who led an Arizona State defensive front that terrorized Hundley all game last year, totaling nine sacks as a unit. The Sun Devils return redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly, who passed for 3,635 yards and 28 touchdowns last season and redshirt junior wide receiver Jaelen Strong, who had 1,122 yards and seven touchdowns last year.

Prediction: Playing in a challenging road environment against an Arizona State team which always seems to give UCLA trouble isn’t the best combination for the Bruins. It should be a close game, but look for UCLA narrowly scrape out a victory in the desert as Hundley has more time to throw this year.

Saturday, Oct. 4 v. Utah

UCLA nearly succumbed to an upset in some snow at Utah last year, its 34-27 victory saved by a last minute interception from then-freshman linebacker Myles Jack – one of UCLA’s six interceptions on the night. At the very least, the Bruins should have nature on their side this year, playing at the Rose Bowl instead of Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City which got a surprise dowsing of snow during last year’s matchup.

Prediction: The Utes finished 5-7 last year and didn’t retool enough to improve significantly. The Bruins should win by a wider margin this time around.

Saturday, Oct. 11 v. No. 3 Oregon

Entering the season as two top-10 teams, the UCLA-Oregon matchup figures to be one of the best in college football this year, featuring a faceoff between two Heisman-candidate quarterbacks. UCLA hasn’t beaten Oregon since 2007 aided by Oregon starting quarterback Dennis Dixon missing the game with a torn ACL. The Ducks have won in the five meetings since then, but the gap between the two teams seems to be closing slightly. Still, the No. 3 team in the nation is nothing to take lightly. The Ducks lost running back/wide receiver De’Anthony Thomas but still maintain a dangerously deep group at running back led by junior Byron Marshall, and redshirt junior quarterback Marcus Mariota’s decision to return to school keeps the core of last year’s high powered offense intact. This will likely be one of UCLA’s toughest games of the year, but the Bruins get the added benefit of playing at home. And although the Ducks enter the season the higher rated team, that could change by Oct. 11, as Oregon faces No. 8 Michigan State in Week 2.

Prediction: Playing at home will definitely help, but the Ducks remain just a bit too much for the Bruins to handle. Look for UCLA to hang around for a while before the Ducks gain separation and win.

Saturday, Oct. 18 @ Cal

2013 was not kind to the Golden Bears, who went just 1-11 on the year – their lone win a narrow seven-point victory over Portland State – and winless in Pac-12 play. The lone bright spot was their passing game, in which then-freshman quarterback Jared Goff showed some flashes, finishing with 3,508 yards through the air. His main targets, junior receivers Bryce Treggs and Chris Harper, each had over 750 receiving yards. That core may develop this year, but Cal still has a ways to go to become competitive in the conference again. However, UCLA has struggled to perform well at Memorial Stadium recently, losing 43-17 at Cal two years ago. In fact, UCLA’s last win in Berkeley came in 1998 and UCLA has lost in the seven times it’s played there since.

Prediction: The Bruins shouldn’t have trouble breaking their winless streak in Berkeley, as the Golden Bears don’t have nearly enough talent to pull off the upset this time around.

Saturday, Oct. 25 @ Colorado

The Buffaloes haven’t had a winning record since 2005 and went 4-8 last season, their first under new coach Mike MacIntyre. They figure to be a bit improved this year, as sophomore quarterback Sefo Liufau had a fairly decent freshman season, passing for 1,179 yards and 12 touchdowns in eight games. However, he loses his top target, receiver Paul Richardson, who is now a Seattle Seahawk. Though October weather in Colorado likely won’t be great, the Bruins did win 42-14 in 2012, their last visit to Boulder, Colo. Expect more of the same this time around.

Prediction: UCLA should win this one in a blowout, coming close to replicating its 42-14 win the last time these two teams played at the Rose Bowl.

Saturday, Nov. 1 v. Arizona

The Wildcats finished a respectable 8-5 last season, but with the loss of quarterback B.J. Denker and running back Ka’Deem Carey, this could be a bit of a transition year for them as new players fill those holes. Arizona had no other quarterbacks beside Denker throw a pass last season, and its leading returning rusher – junior Jared Baker – ran for just 127 yards in 2013.

Prediction: The Wildcats have some rebuilding to do and likely won’t have completed that process by November. UCLA should get the win.

Saturday, Nov. 8 @ No. 25 Washington

The Huskies are another team dealing with several unknowns as they enter the season. With new coach Chris Petersen, a new quarterback and a new running back, a lot has changed in Seattle. As for the new coach, Petersen fills that role coming off eight years as head coach of Boise State, a perennial BCS buster. Sophomore Cyler Miles figures to take over the starting quarterback spot; Miles threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns against UCLA last year after replacing an injured Keith Price. The running back job still seems to be up for grabs, with junior linebacker Shaq Thompson reportedly in the mix for some offensive playing time. Despite the new faces in important roles, Washington still figures to be a difficult matchup for UCLA, especially late in the season and on the road in Husky Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the country.

Prediction: This could be UCLA’s most challenging road game of the season, but they should be able to overcome that and win by a narrow margin.

Saturday, Nov. 22 v. No. 15 USC

After struggling to a 7-6 record in 2012, USC began its ascension back to national prominence last season, finishing with a 10-4 record. This year, the Trojans enter the season ranked No. 15 and look poised to improve upon that mark. Hundley has notched wins in both his two career games against USC, but this year figures to be his biggest challenge in the crosstown rivalry. With a stringent USC defense led by junior defensive end Leonard Williams and sophomore safety Su’a Cravens a year improved, and quarterback Cody Kessler firmly in command of the starting role, this is the most stability the Trojans have had for several years. As the penultimate regular season game, the matchup could have serious implications as to who will win the Pac-12 South.

Prediction: It won’t be as comfortable a margin as the past two seasons, but look for the Bruins to earn a single-digit victory in front of their fans at the Rose Bowl.

Friday, Nov. 28 v. No. 11 Stanford

Stanford has been a thorn in UCLA’s side for years, but have dug in deeper in the past two seasons. In the 2012 Pac-12 title game, UCLA was a missed field goal away from sending the game to overtime and possibly earning a trip to the Rose Bowl. Last season, the Bruins’ chance for revenge was stymied by an unforgiving Cardinal defense that held UCLA scoreless in the first half. Stanford did lose several key starters, especially on defense, which is reflected by its slight drop in the national rankings. However, the Cardinal remain one of the toughest and most disciplined teams in the nation, and will certainly provide the Bruins with a difficult final game of the regular season.

Prediction: Stanford is known for its physicality on the line, but this year, UCLA has the physical players to return the favor. With the Cardinal losing so many key players from last year, UCLA will finally get past its toughest opponent in recent years.

UCLA regular season record prediction: 11-1

Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.