The Oregon Ducks are coming off their second consecutive blowout loss against a ranked Pac-12 opponent. It isn’t about to get much easier for them this week when they visit the UCLA Bruins. The Pac-12’s playoff hopes have almost completely dissipated with the Ducks and Bruins among the bigger disappointments this year. There was so much optimism surrounded around the Bruins after their epic Week 1 comeback at Texas A&M but the team has realy struggled since. They have lost three of their last four. As for the Ducks, their positive vibes went down the tubes when they lost their starting quarterback for the season.
UCLA will be a 7-point favorite when they host Oregon on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins will once again lean heavily on quarterback Josh Rosen with the hope that he and the offense can score enough points to overcompensate for a defense that has been absolutely atrocious this season.
Details
Odds: UCLA -7
Date & Time: Saturday October 21st, 2017 – 4:00 PM ET
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
Broadcast: Pac-12
Reasons To Bet On The Oregon Ducks
For as bad as Oregon has looked over the past couple of weeks, they did beat Cal by 21 points just two weeks ago. Washington State and Stanford completely outmatched the Ducks on both sides of the football but UCLA might be a better matchup than both of those teams. The good news is that the Bruins have allowed an average of 40.5 points per game this season, which is one of the worst marks in the FBS. The bad news is that the Ducks have averaged just 8.5 points per game over their last two contests. Oregon has enough talent to bounce back with its best performance since its win over the Golden Bears this week. If they can put it together on both sides of the football, they could have an opportunity to keep this game close on the road as seven-point underdogs.
Reasons To Bet On The UCLA Bruins
UCLA is coming off a double-digit loss to Arizona but their offense has scored at least 27 points in every single game this season and if their defense can make even minor improvements they could have a chance to win this game. The Ducks offense has been terrible over the past couple of weeks so if there is one matchup to circle for the Bruins defense to turn things around this should be it. Rosen threw for 219 yards and three interceptions in the loss to Arizona so he will simply have to be better. Rosen has flashed his immense potential with some strong performances this season so it makes sense to expect him to bounce back with a much better effort at home against a more favorable opponent on Saturday.
Outlook
We’ve seen plenty of movement on the Oregon-UCLA betting line but the number hasn’t changed a whole lot. We saw the betting line open up at -6.5 and has since moved up to -7 and come back to -6.5 multiple times. It seems like bettors can’t decide whether to take a touchdown with the Ducks or lay just under a touchdown with UCLA. There has been a clear consensus on the total, though, as we have seen that number drop like a rock. It opened up at 71 but has steadily come down to 67, which is where it sits now. Clearly, bettors are looking for a lower scoring game in this spot.
While this is an excellent opportunity for the Ducks offense to get going, we just haven’t seen enough from them to trust them on the road in a game where they might be pressed to play catch up very early on. Rosen and the UCLA offense is capable of scoring points in bunches and all signs point towards him bouncing back from last week’s disappointing performance versus Arizona. The Bruins were a mess last week against the Wildcats but they are still 3-0 at home this season and should be able to remain perfect when they host Oregon on Saturday in Pasadena.
Prediction: UCLA -7
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