Game To Watch: #10 Oregon at UCLA: October 23, 2021

Oregon visits UCLA for a key Pac-12 showdown on Saturday at 3:30 EST. The Ducks bounced back from a loss to Stanford with a 24 – 17 win over Cal last week and pushed their record to 5 – 1. The Bruins have won two in a row to reach 5 – 2, this is the middle game of a tough three game stretch against Washington, Oregon and Utah. Oregon and UCLA are two of the contenders in the Pac-12, but both need a win Saturday to keep those hopes going.

Recent History

UCLA 39 – 30 all time against Oregon, but the Ducks have cut into that lead in a big way recently. The Ducks have won two in a row, including a 38 – 35 win in Eugene last season. They have also won 8 of the last 9 and 13 of the last 16 meetings between the two teams. UCLA’s last win was a 31 – 14 win at home in 2017.

Top 25 Players

What To Watch For…

Oregon’s Offense Needs to Get on Track.

After the big win at Ohio State, Oregon had a lot of momentum and hype, the Ducks beat up on Stony Brook and pulled away from Arizona, but the offense has been in a rut since. Oregon scored 24 points in each of their last two games, losing to Stanford in overtime and beating Cal 24 -17 on a goal-line stand to finish the game. The running game has been solid, but the passing attack has been inconsistent and the Ducks have lost three turnovers in the last two games after losing just one in the first four games. The offense has to get in rhythm and clean up their play for Oregon to return to the form they were in a few weeks ago. UCLA’s defense has been up and down this year as well. They have played better the last two weeks, but Arizona and Washington are not high scoring offensive teams. UCLA does present an interesting match-up for Oregon, as the Bruins have done a good job stopping the run this year. They allow just three yards per carry and have held four of seven opponents under 100 yards rushing for the game. The season high rushing yards total against UCLA is 177 yards by Arizona State, a number Oregon has eclipsed in every game this year. For Oregon’s offense to be successful, the passing game will have to be consistent and balance out the running attack.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson Needs to be Consistent.

UCLA’s Dorian Thompson-Robinson is a talented quarterback, but he has had an up and down season. He has made plenty of big plays for the Bruins and is completing over 60 percent of his passes, averaging 8.5 yards per attempt and has a 13 to 2 touchdown to interception ratio. The problem is that he has been really efficient at times, but also has had rough patches that are hard to explain. For example, against Arizona he only completed 8 passes and averaged 4.3 yards per attempt for the game. Even within individual games Thompson-Robinson has had stretches of strong play followed by blatant misses in the passing game that can be bewildering. Oregon’s defense has made quarterbacks pay for their mistakes this year, intercepting 9 passes and limiting opponents to 6.8 yards per attempt. The Ducks will stack the box and create pressure to force the quarterback to prove he can beat them in the passing game. If Thompson-Robinson struggles to make plays through the air, it could be a long day for the Bruins offense.

Can UCLA Block Thibodeaux and Company?

Kayvon Thibodeaux has been in and out of the lineup for Oregon this year. He was injured in the season opener, missed the next two games, then played against Arizona but missed part of the Stanford and Cal games due to a targeting penalty. The second half of the Cal game was indicative of the impact he can have on a game when he is on the field. Thibodeaux made it impossible for the offense to run longer developing plays because he was in the backfield on seemingly every single play. UCLA’s offensive line allows 2.14 sacks per game this year and has a good pair of bookend tackles, but they will need to account for Thibodeaux if they want to move the ball consistently. If the game-plan does not provide help for the offensive lineman responsible for Thibodeaux he could take over the game and wreck the offensive plan entirely.

Prediction

After losing a close game last year, Chip Kelly will have UCLA ready to play his former team and the Bruins will start fast. Oregon’s defense is good but their depth will have to be up to the test. The Ducks can move the ball with their running game and Joe Moorhead is an excellent play caller who will exploit weaknesses in the defense. The Bruins are at home and that will be the advantage they need to pull out a win. UCLA 30 Oregon 28.

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College Football: Cal at UCLA, November 30, 2019, Los Angeles, CA Image taken by Steve Cheng is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.