Here are the three greatest stories to watch out for previously, during and after the Bruins’ down against the Huskies.
UCLA football (4-0) is planned to start off its Week 5 game against No. 15 Washington (4-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Bruins extinguished Colorado 45-17 headed for open up Pac-12. The Huskies are falling off of their very own victory triumph, beating Stanford 40-22 in Seattle.
Heading into the Week 5 matchup, here are the most squeezing questions we need to have replied by the last whistle.
Might the Bruins’ long DBs at any point step up?
The Bruins’ training staff and web-based entertainment accounts came into the season building up their length in the cornerback room.
With the Huskies bringing a stable of useful, enormous recipients to the Rose Bowl, Friday will check an opportunity to see exactly the way that viable those cornerbacks can be.
Jalen McMillan, Ja’lynn Polk and Rome Odunze are 6-foot-1, 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3, individually. Azizi Hearn, John Humphrey and Devin Kirkwood are 6-foot-2, 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-3, individually. Indeed, even wellbeing/nickel Mo Osling III is 6-foot-2.
McMillan has 367 yards and three scores on 21 gets. Odunze has 293 yards and two scores on 18 gets. Polk has 256 yards and four scores on 13 gets. For reference, no UCLA wideout has arrived at 225 yards or numerous score gets in 2022.
Kirkwood drives the Bruins with four pass separations, while Hearn has one and Humphrey has none. None of the three have a block attempt, however they truly do all have twofold digit complete handles.
The optional held areas of strength for somewhat Bowling Green, Alabama State and Colorado – before trash time, obviously – yet battled on occasion versus South Alabama. While the Panthers had some strong FBS and Power Five exchanges arranging outside, they are not generally so regarded as the gathering of folks the Huskies have.
Washington has been winning a ton of bounce balls and prevailing on profound passes up to this point this season. On the off chance that UCLA will win, they will have to restrict those, and the length of their cornerbacks will have a significant impact in that.
Who will win the skirmish of star QBs?
Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Michael Penix Jr. won’t ever be on the field simultaneously, as is dependably the situation with no holds barred quarterback fights.
That might be a reason for players to evade inquiries from the media, however that doesn’t mean it’s anything but a significant idea heading into Friday night.
Penix had a couple of long periods of progress at Indiana, in any event, making the All-Large Ten Second Group in 2020. By following his old hostile organizer, Kalen DeBoer, to Seattle this past offseason, Penix has taken his game to a higher level.
The exchange signal-guest has passed for 1,388 yards – more than any other person in the nation – notwithstanding 12 scores and one capture on 64.3% fulfillment with a 172.2 passer rating. Penix has made it happen against both mediocre rivalry and undeniable level adversaries, cutting up Michigan State for 397 yards and four scores in Week 3.
Thompson-Robinson has figured out how to set up a few pompous quantities of his own in his fifth season with the Bruins, regardless of continually getting sidelined for trash time and missing about a quarter each game. UCLA’s star veteran has tossed for 896 yards, eight scores and one interference on 74.8% fulfillment with a 167.9 passer rating, while likewise adding 170 yards and two scores on the ground.
Both Thompson-Robinson and Penix have played in, and won, their reasonable portion of defining moments throughout the long term. Friday night will present them each another significant danger, and the two of them will be conflicting with intense pass rushers and suspect guarded backs.
It’s been a long excursion for the sets of class of 2018 volunteers, with Thompson-Robinson coming to Westwood as the No. 2 double danger passer in the nation and Penix beginning in Bloomington as a three-star reinforcement.
This will be their solitary time conflicting with one another – notwithstanding a rematch in the Pac-12 title game – and it ought to be an engaging, high-scoring undertaking.
Will UCLA ascend to its most memorable genuine challenge?
It’s been raised on many times throughout recent months, yet the initial a month of the Bruins’ season were just a warmup for the genuine contest.
Bowling Green is 1-3 and positions No. 123 in ESPN’s Football Power List. Alabama State is a FCS program. South Alabama might hail from the agitated inclined Sun Belt gathering, yet the Pumas still just position No. 62 in the FPI. Colorado is the least positioned group in the Power Five, and is well external the best 100 in the FPI.
So while the Bruins’ 4-0 record is great this far into the season, it doesn’t exactly amount to anything and is difficult to use as an indicator until the end of the year.
Washington comes into Friday likewise brandishing a 4-0 record, one that was reinforced by a success over then-No. 11 Michigan State and a triumph against Stanford, which is right close to South Alabama in the FPI at No. 63. To beat the Huskies is add a serious, genuine success to the Bruins’ resume, and it would likely vault them into the main 25 one week from now.
On the off chance that UCLA can’t pull it off, however, the following couple of weeks could get revolting quick. No. 12 Utah is up next on the timetable, trailed by a street challenge against No. 13 Oregon.
A 4-0 season could transform into a 4-3 season on the off chance that the Bruins can’t impress be valid competitors in the near future, and that all starts Friday night at the Rose Bowl.
