Looks like oddsmakers expect a blowout up in Berkeley. Depending on the service, Cal is expected to beat us by 17 to 18 points. As we said yesterday, we need a near perfect game from Pat Cowan and Jim Svoboda and our defense is going to have to come up big with some stops and some takeaways. Also, if Tedford can he will run up the score against us to look pretty for the BCS. And can one blame him? That’s the nature of the beast. If Cal beats Southern Cal and the SEC teams beat on each other, there is a chance, however slight, that Cal can claim a place in the title game. Every game for Cal now is a “show me” game. We have got to bring a tight game on Saturday and get some takeaways.
Oddsmakers have tomorrow's game as almost a tossup, and the spread hasn't moved much it's that close. UCLA is expected to win by 1.0 to 1.5, depending on the service. We hit the under every single game this year, and the over/under is 43.5 for tomorrow. Not a lot of scoring is expected. That is most likely due to our anemic offense and rising defense. Our prediction on another site has our Bruins winning 24-17. It's a home game and we expect our defense to respond. The question mark remains the offense. We should win tomorrow. Go Bruins!
Just a quick note: Oddsmakers have UCLA losing by 13 to 13.5 depending on the service. As we said earlier, we expect Weis to pour it on if he can because this is his final marquee game before Southern Cal at the end of the season. He needs BCS voters to remember a 10-2 ND for bowl selection if they lose to Southern Cal, and this may be the last game they remember. They are going to test our young secondary as well with their great passing game. DC Walker will be tested again. Lets hope for a suprise. Go Bruins!!
For the first time this year the money is on us to lose this Saturday at Oregon. Oddsmakers don’t have us even making this game close. Considering the beating Oregon took last Saturday at Cal, that exposed their defensive and offensive weaknesses, we would have thought the line would be tighter. Nevertheless, this is a winnable game and a big game for KD and for this team’s season. We expect UCLA to play a tight game, even with Cowan starting at QB, as the team and coaching staff do not expect a decline in peformance at QB and Oregon is limping on defense.
The season up to this point has been nothing but speculation. Now we will get to measure the quality of our team. Now is the time for our vaunted defense to step up against a great offense. All the happy talk about how great our defense is, #2 in the nation, will be wiped away with an ugly loss at Autzen. A win, with defense leading the way, and every chest-thumping proclamation of dominance will be validated. But more than that, this team needs to earn respect. They need to earn it against a worthy opponent. And they need to earn it on the road. A 4-1 Bruin team should NEVER be left out of the top 25. This team is.
In part, KD’s legacy is on the line Saturday. He has never won the big game, never beat a winning team on the road. He has a chance to wipe out two glaring negative marks on his coaching resume. Without a win Saturday, it will be hard to imagine this team taking it to Notre Dame and Cal on the road later on. KD has got to get it done Saturday. The money is not on him, let’s hope he proves ‘em wrong. Go Bruins!!
The odds on the game against Arizona Saturday have UCLA - 11.5 to -12.0 depending on the service. That would be in line with what Brandon Johnson, blogger for the Arizona Daily Star and yesterday’s guest interview, thought the result would be. He has UCLA winning 27-10 over his Cats.  It’s also in line with what the majority of Bruinsnation poll respondents think as well.
We can’t play like we did against Stanford and expect to beat that spread. Arizona’s defense is much better than their numbers suggest. They held a good Southern Cal offense to just 13 points through most of the game. Were it not for a late blocked punt deep in Arizona territory Southern Cal might have only scored 13 for the game, not 20. A good defense is going to note that in nearly every game our offense has had a hard time with blitzes. Stoops is going to come at our offense.Â
It may be our defense that wins this game in the end. Let’s hope DC Walker is reading this Arizona offense right, and goes after that OL line that Brandon Johnson said was the source of all of Arizona’s offensive problems. We should be able to shut down this Arizona team pretty soundly.  All in all, should be an easy win … lets get it done KD!! Go Bruins!!
As we expected, the money is being put on a big win by the Bruins. Vegas oddmakers and offshore sportsbooks have UCLA anywhere from -23 to -24. That makes sense, since it’s hard to tell if we will blow out Stanford by more, like we should, or whether KD and Svoboda will once again stifle our players with horrible play-calling, as they did with Rice and Washington. Get ready for a high-scoring affair with much to get pumped about. It will be a good day for UCLA football.
* disclaimer: this is not an endorsement of betting.
The Vegas oddmakers have UCLA favored by 3.5 over Washington this week. The odds opened at -4.5, so there hasn't been much movement. The broad consensus at BruinsNation has our Bruins winning by more than 7. Are we all drinking the cool-aid? If the predictions by our faithful are true, shouldn't the odds then be easy money? It's possible, since Washington's weakness is against the pass, and as the game against Utah proved, BO can take apart a weak secondary. The key questions are how KD and Svoboda call the offense, and how well prepared we are and how well our coaching staff adjust for any defensive schemes Washington coach Ty Willingham throws at us given the lack of preparation we had against an overmatched Rice. Also key will be containing Husky QB Isaiah Stanback. He is fast and agile despite his height and certainly can cause damage in a hurry. We are not putting any money on this game (we don't promote betting). Go Bruins!!
