UCLA vs. Cal Complete Game Preview

When: Saturday, Oct. 18; 3:30 p.m. ET

Where: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

TV: ABC or ESPN2 

Coming off back-to-back home losses, the UCLA Bruins are in need of a road trip. UCLA can get its season back on course with a win away from the Rose Bowl this week—and road victories have been in ample supply. 

After Week 7 games, visiting teams in Pac-12 Conference games are 14-4. 

The road may be welcoming to Pac-12 teams this season, but Cal's Memorial Stadium has been inhospitable to UCLA teams over recent years. The Bruins have not won there since 1998, and the last outcome decided by single digits was in 2002. 

UCLA's more recent history in Berkeley is no less promising. 

Since head coach Jim Mora arrived in 2012, six of UCLA's 10 losses have come to ranked teams. Two others—Oregon State in 2012 and Utah this season—used defeats of the Bruins to vault into the polls. 

Loss No. 9 was Baylor in the 2012 Holiday Bowl. 

That leaves Cal in Mora's first season as the biggest head-scratcher on the coach's resume. UCLA was leveled 43-17 in that visit. 

With a two-game losing skid on the year and a heap of bad memories of Memorial Stadium, UCLA will not be lacking motivation heading into Saturday's showdown. 

Keys to Victory for UCLA

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Get at Goff 

Sacks are rare commodities for this UCLA defense this season. After failing to get to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota last Saturday, the Bruins have just seven for the campaign. 

That ranks UCLA No. 110 nationally, tied with such programs as Connecticut and Georgia State.

A high volume of sacks was a trademark of the UCLA defense in Mora’s previous two seasons at the helm. This year’s Bruins lineup certainly has the playmakers capable of getting to the quarterback, and this week doing so against one of the nation’s most prolific passers.  

Linebacker Deon Hollins is the only Bruin with multiple sacks, and he’s been close to adding to his three on a number of occasions. His speed and footwork operating off the edge have led him into opposing backfields, and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through for a game-changing play.

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has typically used Myles Jack in pass coverage or run containment. As the Bruins contain struggling to generate sacks, expect to see the explosive Jack used in more blitzing situations.

Ultimately, however, the defensive line needs to do a better job of getting off blocks more quickly. Owa Odighizuwa and Eddie Vanderdoes are two of the more talented linemen in the conference but must begin to produce up to their potential.

Vanderdoes may not be able to this week. Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Vanderdoes against Oregon would be reviewed to see if Vanderdoes threw a punch, which would result in his suspension. 

Being down a leading pass-rusher will make UCLA's effort to stop Jared Goff all the more difficult. Goff comes in with 22 touchdown passes on the year and 2,179 yards. 

Test Cal’s Run Defense

Statistically, Cal ranks as one of the better run defenses in the Pac-12. The Golden Bears are allowing just 3.5 yards per carry, and the 116.7 yards they’re allowing per game ranks them No. 26 in the country.

However, the UCLA offense is best served going to the ground early and truly testing just how stingy this Cal bunch is.

UCLA has a genuine star ball-carrier in Paul Perkins, whose 190 yards against Oregon set a new career high. Perkins gashed the Ducks early and often, and Bruins offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone could have fed him more. Perkins rushed 22 times on the afternoon.  

An effective run game early is UCLA’s best hope of preventing Cal defensive coordinator Art Kaufman from dropping back defenders into pass coverage and closing quarterback Brett Hundley’s passing windows with a four-man rush.

Keys to Victory for Cal

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Force the Tempo

UCLA may love its basketball, and the Bruins football team might be built on high tempo, but that doesn’t mean Mora’s bunch wants the score Saturday to emulate an output from the hardwood.

Conversely, Cal head coach Sonny Dykes plays a brand of football that is best suited to point totals pushing—if not exceeding—100.

Improved as the Golden Bears defense may be, Cal is hardly equipped to endure a slugfest. Its two Pac-12 wins were with final combined scores of 115 and 119 points.

A high score means Goff is throwing the ball all over the field to any of his seven targets with 12 or more receptions. It also means the pace is to Dykes’ liking.

Keep the Heat on Hundley

It’s becoming a weekly key for opponents facing UCLA but has proved effective: Rushing four regularly with plenty of blitz packages mixed in is a recipe for slowing the Bruins offense.

Hundley is scrambling for big yards since his return from an elbow injury sustained in Week 3, but that means he’s not throwing as much. He doesn’t have much time to with an ever-smaller pocket.

UCLA is at its most dangerous when its offensive attack is balanced. Rendering the Bruins one-dimensional early is key to slowing them down.

Defensive lineman Todd Barr could cause problems for UCLA up front. 

UCLA Players to Watch

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Offense

WR Thomas Duarte

Thomas Duarte shined as UCLA’s No. 2 receiver behind only Jordan Payton early in the season. But over the Bruins’ two losses, Duarte has just two catches for 17 yards.

Duarte is a vital cog in the UCLA passing attack, providing a reliable target on mid-range routes but also explosive potential on the deep ball.

The Bruins must get him going once again to reinvigorate the offensive punch lacking for much of the Utah and Oregon games.

QB Brett Hundley

As leader of this UCLA team, Hundley shoulders the burden of getting the Bruins’ season back on course. Of course, it doesn’t all come down to Hundley—he’s been under near-constant duress, which has limited his options.

But rather than point fingers, Hundley is focused on building on the positives.

“Everything is in our hands. We can’t be a team that gets down on itself,” he said.

Defense

LB Myles Jack

One of the faces of the UCLA defense, Jack played a great individual game in the loss to Oregon with 6.5 sacks, one of which went for a loss, and a pass breakup.

Jack’s versatility could be put to the test this week against the multifaceted “bear-raid” offense Cal runs. Dykes likes to throw four and sometimes five receivers on the field but also sprinkles in an effective dash of the rush with running backs Daniel Lasco and Khalfani Muhammad, as well as dual-threat quarterback Luke Rubenzer.

Cal’s offensive style is suited to exploiting any unfulfilled possessions the Golden Bears’ opponents have on the other end. Thus the Bruins need the defense to be prepared to snuff out any quick scoring opportunities Cal might have.

“Us as a defense, when we see a turnover or three-and-out, we take it as a challenge,” Jack said after the Oregon game. “We want to be out on the field and make plays.”

He’ll have plenty of opportunities to make plays with as many snaps as Cal likes to take.

CB Anthony Jefferson

In UCLA’s last win, a 62-27 drubbing of Arizona State, Anthony Jefferson was key to shutting down wide receiver Jaelen Strong. Jefferson will be one Bruin expected to play a starring role against Cal’s passing attack this week.

“After a loss, you want to come back and find a way to win,” Jefferson said last Saturday.

Forcing turnovers—like the interception Jefferson had at Arizona State—is one way to win in the Pac-12.

Cal Players to Watch

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Offense

QB Jared Goff

The sophomore Goff started the entire 2013 campaign, yet he’s already eclipsed a few of his numbers from a season ago. Most notably, he’s thrown 22 touchdowns through Cal’s first six games—four more touchdowns than he passed for in 2013.

Goff is the perfect quarterback for Dykes’ bear-raid offense. And with the UCLA defense surrendering big yards this season, Goff has a prime opportunity to add to his already impressive stat sheet.

The Wide Receivers

When it comes to the Cal wide receiving corps, a defensive coordinator is left to pick his poison.

The Golden Bears have five wideouts with 18 or more receptions: Stephen Anderson (18), Trevor Davis (18), Chris Harper (20), Kenny Lawler (25) and Bryce Treggs (29).

That quintet has combined for 1,590 yards and 18 touchdowns, with Lawler and Treggs leading the way at five scores each.

Having such a deep and diverse array of targets makes Goff’s eye-popping production possible. It also presents defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich with a unique challenge.

While Ulbrich will want to apply pressure on Goff, using Jack as a pass-rusher could leave the Bruins secondary vulnerable. Jack is one of the better pass-coverage linebackers in the Pac-12, and his athleticism will be needed against Cal’s dynamic receiving corps.

Defense

The Secondary

Cal has a number of injuries in the secondary that could prove problematic to the Golden Bears' bowl aspirations. Safety Griffin Piatt, the team's leader with 40 tackles and three interceptions, went down against Washington. 

Cal has also lost Stefan McClure, its veteran leader at corner, for the season. 

What They're Saying

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UCLA 

Mora on his sideline argument with Ulbrich against Oregon: "If you're going to make a big deal out of it, then you don’t understand sports. I would hope no one would make a big deal out of something as stupid as that, because if they do, then they don’t understand what competition really is and what passion really is."

Hundley on salvaging UCLA’s championship aspirations: "Obviously there will be a two-loss team in that [College Football] Playoff. So hopefully we just do our part. If we play good ball the rest of the season, anything goes."

Cal

Lasco on regrouping from Cal’s 31-7 loss to Washington in Week 7, via CalBears.com:

"

Everybody was saying we can score 50 points easily. I think a lot of people bought into it and they didn’t realize how hard it is to win a football game and how hard it is to be productive on offense. I think in the end, we needed this. It’s hard right now, everybody is struggling right now, but we are going to bounce back tomorrow, have a great week of practice and get ready for UCLA.

"

Dykes on winning in the Pac-12: "It's tough sledding in this league [the Pac-12] right now because everybody's good. Every Saturday's competitive. There's no gimmes. It's a tough league, and I think it's frustrating for everybody."

Prediction

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UCLA’s dream season could turn into a nightmare with a third consecutive loss. Given what a house of horrors Memorial Stadium has been for the Bruins, there may not be a worse matchup they could be headed into after back-to-back home defeats.

Nevertheless, ending one dubious streak in the Memorial Stadium losing skid just might be exactly what UCLA needs to snap another.

Hundley said after the Oregon loss that UCLA remains focused on the Pac-12 championship, which is still very much attainable given the current landscape of the conference.

The Bruins have undeniable issues on the defensive side, and a Dykes-coached team can attack such deficiencies. The Golden Bears will score points on Saturday. 

That puts the onus on Hundley and the offense. Hundley came back to UCLA for his redshirt junior year to lead a championship pursuit, and this week is the kind of gut check, both for the quarterback and his team, that will define their season. 

Expect Hundley and Co. to respond in kind. 

Prediction: UCLA 48, Cal 41

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com.