The UCLA Bruins think this is their year in the Pac-12. After a few years of patient building, head coach Jim Mora appears to have assembled a team that’s ready to make its move and seriously contend for both a Pac-12 championship and a spot in the new College Football Playoff. A lot of people are wondering if the Bruins will be able to live up to the expectations that have been set in front of them.
Strengths
The Bruins are deep and balanced. Their impact players from 2013 are almost all back. Quarterback Brett Hundley, a star player, leads the way among UCLA’s returning standouts. However, he has plenty of company. Linebacker-running back hybrid Myles Jack is back. Multiple offensive linemen of considerable quality are returning. Defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes is returning. Multiple defensive backs are returning as well. Receiver Devin Fuller, too is coming back for the Bruins in 2014. So many people Mora and the rest of the coaching staff depended on a year ago will be in their same positions, giving the Bruins so much continuity and leadership. The staff can feel that these returning players will be able to coach the younger players on the squad and create the kind of togetherness a football team needs to feel as it goes through a challenging season in a national power conference.
Weaknesses
The Bruins lost two excellent linebackers from last season, Anthony Barr and Jordan Zumwalt. If there’s a single area of the defense in which UCLA could suffer relative to 2013, it’s at linebacker. UCLA will be tested by both the read-based running attack of Oregon and the multiple formations used by new Washington coach Chris Petersen. Texas’ running game might also pose a challenge for the Bruins as well. You could also see teams try to back the Bruins’ linebackers off the line of scrimmage by forcing them to cover tight ends and running backs out of the backfield, thereby setting up the run. UCLA’s linebackers have a big challenge in front of them this season.
Schedule
The Bruins should handle Virginia and Memphis to go to 2-0, and then the schedule gets tough. Playing Texas in the Dallas Cowboys’ home stadium will be a good early-season measurement of where UCLA is as a team. The Bruins follow up that big game with a bigger one at Arizona State in prime time. Oregon and Stanford are tough teams, but both of those games are at home. USC is a home game as well, but Washington is a road game. UCLA’s home-versus-road dates are favorable, but the overall schedule is a tough one.
Outlook
The Bruins could very well lose to Arizona State, and they’ll likely split the Oregon-Stanford pair of games at home. If they win at Washington, they should be able to get to 10 wins. The feeling here is that they will. Take the over.
Pick: Over 9.5 at -110, Under -120
