UCLA football (4-5, 3-4 Big Ten) is headed up north to Husky Stadium to face Washington (5-5, 3-4) on Friday night. Both teams are navigating their respective inaugural seasons in the Big Ten, a first-year head coach and are now on the brink of bowl eligibility. Here are this week’s gameday predictions from Sports editor Ira Gorawara and assistant Sports editor Una O’Farrell – along with guest predictions from digital managing editor Mia Tavares and editor-in-chief Lex Wang.

Ira Gorawara
Sports editor
Prediction: UCLA 20, Washington 23

There’s something just so eerie about Friday’s game.

Two teams, opposite ends of the college football world last year, suspiciously similar this year. Let’s take it one by one.

Thirty teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision are sporting rookie head coaches this season. UCLA football and Washington are part of that cohort.

DeShaun Foster and Jedd Fisch – because of course, one-half of their initials must also be shared – both inherited scrambling programs permeated with question marks.

The Bruins bid farewell to a pro-level defense that stifled offense to a mere 4.6 yards per snap – the tightest grip they’ve had since 1988. As for recruiting, former coach Chip Kelly left that cupboard practically bare.

Fisch, meanwhile, was left to rebuild a roster hollowed out by 25 scholarship exits and 20 more departures. Despite bringing in 44 new recruits and transfers to plug the holes, the team’s cohesion is clearly still a work in progress.

Washington will roll with Will Rogers on Friday night – the quarterback chosen to replace one of last year’s most NFL-ready signal-callers. UCLA, too, has newfound stability under center after juggling between three in 2023.

Do you see what I mean by eerily similar? There’s more.

The most obvious parallel? The two longtime Pac-12 foes are making their entries to the Big Ten simultaneously, toiling to earn respect among college football’s titans.

And, in an almost uncanny twist, both teams hold identical conference records at 3-4, hovering a win or two away from bowl eligibility. It’s a strangely parallel path for two teams that wrapped 2023 up in wildly different notes.

All that being said, the striking similarities will make everything but one a control variable on Friday – Washington’s edge in winning tight games and locking things in on home turf.

Competing at the notorious Husky Stadium, Washington will capitalize on small cracks in the Bruin defense and disrupt their aerial attack to tip the scales in its favor Friday night.

Nonetheless, it will be an eerily tight affair for eerily similar schools.

Una O’Farrell
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: UCLA 23, Washington 22

A year ago, UCLA and Washington were worlds apart.

The Huskies entered this same week of the 2023 season undefeated, poised for a successful College Football Playoff run. Meanwhile, the Bruins were fighting to remain bowl eligible, with a regular season record barely above .500.

But now the two will meet in a matchup that feels much more even. With identical 3-4 conference records in both of their inaugural seasons in the Big Ten, it seems the new conference hasn’t been as kind as either team anticipated.

Washington’s offense runs through Rogers, who averages an impressive 8.1 yards per attempt and has already surpassed his touchdown total from last year at Mississippi State.

UCLA, meanwhile, has leaned on its ground game, averaging 89.1 rushing yards per game, with junior running back T.J. Harden leading the charge at 3.8 yards per carry. The Bruins’ ability to establish their run game and control possession could prove critical.

In a duel where neither team has proven its merit, I’ll lightly tip the scale in UCLA’s favor. The Bruins have found success on the road this season, and as a former Pac-12 opponent, Washington’s Husky Stadium is familiar territory for the Bruins.

Mia Tavares
Digital managing editor
Prediction: UCLA 32, Washington 24

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my almost four years at UCLA, it’s that Californians hate the rain.

On Friday, the Bruins are going to find that it takes some rain to make things bloom.

This week, I’m forecasting a shower for the Bruins – a shower of points – and in Seattle, Washington, when it rains, it pours.

UCLA is hitting the road again after a home win against Iowa last Friday. And with the success on the road it had against Rutgers and Nebraska, I don’t see anything changing this week.

Washington may have been on the cusp of greatness last year – losing to Michigan in the College Football Playoff National Championship – but that was last year, with last year’s team and last year’s Heisman Trophy runner up, quarterback Michael Penix Jr.

This year, the Huskies have a quarterback that’s yet to spark any momentum, a new head coach that remains in a trial-by-fire phase and a middling record – well, barely.

Meanwhile, the Bruins have a stable quarterback in redshirt senior Ethan Garbers, a head coach with a new coaching style in DeShaun Foster and a three-game win streak.

This year, the Bruins have consistency – and it’s only right that they stay consistent and extend their record against the Huskies to a three-win streak.

Lex Wang
Editor-in-chief
Prediction: UCLA 98, Washington 7

I don’t root for losing teams.

Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. I’ve spent the past two years reporting solely for men’s volleyball – the only squad of UCLA’s 25 varsity teams that has won the NCAA title in both the years I’ve written for the Sports section.

When I care enough to watch basketball, I generally support the Golden State Warriors, a team I’m told is currently making their bid for No. 1 in the NBA power rankings.

Last year, I ate enough free seven-inch pizzas from California Pizza Kitchen because the Dodgers won so often that I think the manager of the restaurant chain has since broken off the fan deal because they were losing so much money off of me. Also, I hear the Dodgers just won the World Series, so clearly they’re still doing pretty well.

It might not surprise you, then, that I generally don’t cheer on UCLA football. I bought a Den Pass at the beginning of this year, and yet I haven’t been to a single game because the team’s abysmal 4–5 record makes me wish there was a way I could re-establish my pride in being a Bruin and reclaim my $165.

That is, of course, unless men’s basketball does well this season, in which case I’d just like my $82.50 back.

However, I have a feeling UCLA’s next game against Washington will be different. My prediction: A blowout for the Bruins.

Why? Because on Friday, I actually plan to watch this game on the big screen with friends, and if I watch it, I’ll root for UCLA. And like I’ve said before, I don’t root for losing teams.

So, this is an official message for UCLA football: Do better. I’m rooting for you this Friday, and I don’t root for losing teams. Best of luck, because I’m expecting to see you in the end zone 14 times.