Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. UCLA Bruins: Complete Game Preview

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GameDay Information for fans watching the Cornhuskers and Bruins.

Who: Nebraska at UCLA

When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m. (central)

Where: Pasadena, CA

Stadium: Rose Bowl (91,500, grass)

TV: FOX broadcast network

Radio: Husker Sports Network, affiliates listed here

Internet Stream: Huskers.com, XM channel 196

Depth Chart for Nebraska

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Depth chart based on information on HuskerMax.com

Offense

QB: Taylor Martinez, Ron Kellogg III OR Tommy Armstrong OR Brion Carnes

IB: Rex Burkhead, Ameer Abdullah, Braylon Heard, Imani Cross

FB: Mike Marrow, C.J. Zimmerer, Graham Stoddard, Andy Janovich

LT: Brent Qvale, Brandon Thompson

LG: Seung Hoon Choi, Cole Pensick, Jake Cotton

C: Justin Jackson, Cole Pensick, Mark Pelini

RG: Spencer Long, Broderick Nickens, Ryne Reeves

RT: Jeremiah Sirles, Andrew Rodriguez

TE: Ben Cotton OR Kyler Reed, Jake Long OR Conor McDermott

WR X: Kenny Bell, Tyler Wullenwaber

WR Z: Quincy Enunwa, Taariq Allen, Steven Osborne

WR A: Jamal Turner, Tyler Evans

 

Defense

DE: Jason Ankrah, Joseph Carter

DT: Chase Rome OR Thaddeus Randle

DT: Baker Steinkuhler, Kevin Williams

DE: Cameron Meredith, Eric Martin, Avery Moss

BUCK LB: Sean Fisher, Alonzo Whaley OR Max Pirman

MIKE LB: Will Compton, Trevor Roach, Michael Rose

WILL LB: Alonzo Whaley, David Santon, Zaire Anderson

LCB: Andrew Green, Antonio Bell, Daniel Davie

S: P.J. Smith, Harvey Jackson, Corey Cooper

S: Daimion Stafford, Courtney Osborne, Justin Blatchford

RCB: Josh Mitchell, Stanley Jean-Baptiste, Ciante Evans

 

Special Teams

PK: Brett Maher, Mauro Bondi

P: Brett Maher, Mauro Bondi

LS: P.J. Mangieri, Joseph Rotherham

KO: Brett Maher, Mauro Bondi

HOLD: Jase Dean

KOR: Ameer Abdullah, Kenny Bell, Jamal Turner, Braylon Heard

PR: Ameer Abdullah, Jamal Turner, Rex Burkhead

Depth Chart for UCLA

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Depth chart based on information from UCLABruins.com

 

Offense

QB: Brett Hundley, (backups listed alphabetically) Richard Brehaut, Jerry Neuheisel, Kevin Prince

TB: Jonathan Franklin, Jordan Dames, Damien Thigpen, Malcolm Jones

FB: David Allen, Phillip Ruhl, Luke Gane 

LT: Torian White, Xavier Su'a-Filo

LG: Xavier Su'a-Filo, Greg Capella

C: Jake Brendel, Tre Hale

RG: Jeff Baca, Alexandru Ceachir

RT: Simon Goines, Brett Downey

WR X: Jerry Johnson, Tyler Scott, Logan Sweet

WR Z: Shaq Evans, Devin Lucien, Ricky Marvray

WR Y: Darius Bell, Joseph Fauria, Ian Taubler

WR F: Steven Manfro, Kenneth Walker, Roosevelt Davis

 

Defense

LDE: Datone Jones, Owamagabe Odighizuwa, Ellis McCarthey

NT: Seal'i Epenesa, Brandon Willis

RDE: Cassius Marsh, Donovan Carter, Brandon Tuliaupupu

LOLB: Jordan Zumwalt, Nate Iese, Aramide Olaniyan

LILB: Damien Holmes, Aaron Porter, Todd Golper

RILB: Eric Kendricks, Ryan Hofmeister, Kenny Orjioke

ROLB: Anthony Barr, Keenan Graham, Aaron Wallace

LCB: Sheldon Price, Ishmael Adams, Fabian Moreau

SS: Andrew Abbott, Dalton Hilliard, Anthony Jefferson

FS: Tevin McDonald, Stan McKay, Brandon Sermons

RCB: Aaron Hester, Marcus Rios, Randall Goforth

 

Special Teams

PK: Ka'imi Fairbairn, Justin Moreno

KO: Jeff Locke, Ka'imi Fairbairn

P: Jeff Locke, Justin Moreno

LS: Kevin McDermott, Christopher Longo

H: Jeff Locke, Jerry Neuheisel

What Happened to the Cornhuskers Last Week

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Nebraska defeated Southern Miss, 49-20, winning its 27th consecutive home opener. Although the defense struggled, the country got its first look at how the offseason work Taylor Martinez put in on his passing would pay off. Martinez went 26-for-34, passing for 354 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.

So apparently, the offseason work wasn't bad.

Rex Burkhead left the game in the first quarter to an MCL sprain and is listed as questionable for the game against UCLA. Wide receiver Tim Marlowe will also be out until late October with a broken clavicle.

What Happened to the Bruins Last Week

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UCLA went on the road and beat Rice, 49-24. The Bruins started red-shirt freshman Brett Hundley at quarterback, who responded by going 21-for-28 for 202 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushing for 68 yards and a touchdown. Hundley's first play as UCLA's quarterback turned out to be a 72-yard touchdown run.

Running back Jonathan Franklin rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns, and UCLA racked up 651 yards of total offense against the Owls.

Also, in a strange statistical occurrence, Rice's Cameron Nwosu blocked three UCLA point-after-touchdown attempts. That effort ties an NCAA record in a game.

What It Means to Both Teams

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For Nebraska, the game is an opportunity to go on the road and establish itself as a legitimate top-10 team by beating a talented UCLA squad in its own house.

For UCLA, the game has the possibility to set a positive tone for new head coach Jim Mora, Jr. Should the Bruins upset Nebraska, Mora will be able to have some powerful momentum going forward into Pac-12 competition.

While UCLA did represent the Pac-12 South in the inaugural conference championship game, the 49-31 drubbing Oregon inflicted on the Bruins (coupled with the 50-0 demolition at the hands of USC) has shrouded the UCLA program in failure. An upset of Nebraska would represent a clean break and a successful start for the new-look Bruins. 

Key Player for Nebraska

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Taylor Martinez

Rex Burkhead, while listed as the starter, has been called questionable for Saturday's game against UCLA. If Burkhead doesn't go, or if he is limited due to his injury, the bulk of the offense is going to fall on Martinez's shoulders.

Was the performance against Southern Miss the result of a surprise game plan against a Conference USA opponent? Or has Martinez really made such incredible strides in his game enough to effectively navigate Nebraska's offense against a Pac-12 defense? The answer to that question will more than likely answer who will win the contest.     

Key Player for UCLA

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Brett Hundley

I know, it's kind of taking chalk to pick the two quarterbacks as key players, but it really does apply in this game.

Anthony Alford, the zone-read quarterback for Southern Miss, had tremendous success against the Blackshirts. He was the Golden Eagles' top rusher, carrying the ball 15 times for 84 yards. He also had a number of throws that would have been devastatingly effective if his receivers had not dropped passes they should have caught. Had Alford been in for the entire game, who knows how the score might have looked?

Hundley is basically a bigger and faster version of Alford. And there's no question he will be in for the entire game, barring injury. If Hundley is able to torture Nebraska's defense the way Alford did, UCLA should move the ball effectively and keep Nebraska's newly-found high-octane offense on the sidelines.

Nebraska Will Win If ...

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... the offense that showed up against Southern Miss makes the trip out west. Taylor Martinez's eye-popping passing statistics were what jumped out last Saturday, but the offense as a whole was transformed from last year. Nebraska ran the no-huddle with crispness and precision.

With the addition of Mike Marrow and Imani Cross, Nebraska now has a between-the-tackles threat to compliment a speed threat posed by Ameer Abdullah and Braylon Heard. The offensive line provided great protection for Martinez in the passing game, was effective in run blocking and did so without the kind of penalties that has dogged Nebraska in the past.

Of course, that's against Southern Miss. But if Nebraska is able to have the same kind of success on offense (perhaps not 632 yards of success, but success in general), then it can win even a high-scoring affair.

UCLA Will Win If ...

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... the mobile quarterback bedevils the Blackshirts again. Since his arrival, it has almost become cliche to say that Bo Pelini's teams struggle against a mobile quarterback. But cliches sometimes become cliches because they are true.

If Nebraska is unable to effectively contain Brett Hundley in the zone read, then the door gets opened for Jonathan Franklin to run at Nebraska's tackles and for UCLA's passing offense to get on track. And if the UCLA crowd smells blood in the water, it could put additional pressure on a new-look offense to win a scoring match.

(Of course, that's assuming that the crowd will be pro-UCLA, which may not be the case on Saturday.)

Prediction

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Rick Neuheisel left Jim Mora, Jr. some talent to work with in Westwood, and Mora should have the Bruins breathing fire for their first opportunity to make a mark on the national stage. But Nebraska's last trip to the West Coast against a Pac-12 team thought to challenge NU ended in a rout, with Nebraska beating Washington 56-21.

UCLA's offense should be good enough to keep up and put points on the board. But UCLA's defense, which gave up 347 yards and 24 points to Rice, should struggle to stop Nebraska's offensive diversity. Look for a high-scoring affair that Nebraska pulls away to win in the fourth quarter.

Nebraska 45, UCLA 31

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