UCLA: OUT: DL Nico Davillier (personal reasons), DL Robert James III (undisclosed, season-ending), DL Tyler Partlow (undisclosed, season-ending), WR Jonah Smith (undisclosed, season-ending), QB Pierce Clarkson (indefinitely suspended) WR Karson Gordon (undisclosed), OL Jaylen Jeffers (undisclosed, season-ending), OL K.D. Arnold (undisclosed, season-ending); QUESTIONABLE: WR Jadyn Marshall (undisclosed), LB Ben Perry (undisclosed), DB Croix Stewart (undisclosed), OL Michael Sultemeier (undisclosed), QB Nico Iamaleava (concussion-like symptoms), OL Garrett DiGiorgio (undisclosed), OL Reuben Unije (undisclosed), DB Rodrick Pleasant (undisclosed).
Washington: OUT: WR Rashid Williams (undisclosed, season-ending), LB Tarij Al-Uqdah (undisclosed, season-ending), DB CJ Christian (undisclosed, season-ending), DB Rahim Wright II (undisclosed, season-ending), WR Justice Williams (undisclosed, season-ending), DB Dyson McCutcheon (undisclosed, season-ending), TE Kade Eldridge (undisclosed, season-ending), TE Charlie Crowell (undisclosed, season-ending), DL Armon Parker (undisclosed, season-ending), DL Russell Davis II (undisclosed, season-ending); QUESTIONABLE: WR Denzel Boston (undisclosed), OL Drew Azzopardi (undisclosed), OL Maximus McCree (undisclosed), LB Isaiah Ward (undisclosed).
What’s at stake? A trip to the conference championship is already off the table for Washington, middling in a Big Ten whose top-heavy teams are salivating at incoming College Football Playoff berths. Washington has looked great – see last week’s trouncing over Purdue – but has also slipped in losses against a 3-7 Wisconsin team. UCLA, as a handful of players have said during the week of practices, is searching for a bright ending to a season that began on the other side of the spectrum. Imagine how interim coach Tim Skipper can end his tenure in Westwood with a memorable chapter in a book soon to close. Two wins to end the year would accomplish that.
Who’s better? The Huskies are certainly more well-rounded than the Bruins. And the two areas in which Washington has had success – passing offense and rushing defense, for which it ranks 34th and 20th in the nation, respectively – are spots in which UCLA has struggled to get past teams that do both well. Add in Huskies’ dual-threat quarterback Desmond Williams Jr., who comes from the same camp of mobile quarterbacks for which the Bruins have faltered against, and talent and strategy-wise, UCLA isn’t matched up so well. Seemingly getting quarterback Nico Iamaleava back could do wonders, opening up the Bruins’ offense to get more comfortably moving down field – instead of a check-down-based approach, which could be easily exploited.
UCLA wins if: The vibes in potentially UCLA’s final home game at the Rose Bowl are top-notch – from the fans in the crowd to the football on the field – and the Bruins ride such a wave to a victory, somehow securing a 3-3 split at home after the dire nonconference losses to Utah and New Mexico early in the season. One true football aspect that Skipper and offensive play-caller Jerry Neuheisel will have to get out of their players is a return to a consistent run game, which showed it could work in wins against Penn State and Michigan State.
Prediction: UCLA 35, Washington 27. Jedd Fisch makes another return to the Rose Bowl. However, this will be the game that sends Fisch off UCLA’s potential head coach big board – and makes the Bruins’ rivalry matchup against the Trojans in a week a much more enticing battle for the Victory Bell.
