Can UCLA Football continue to dominate on the road in 2015? If they do, it could mean big things for the Bruins this year.
Saturday, October 26. That was the day the UCLA Football team last lost a game on the road. Since that defeat at Autzen Stadium against the Oregon Ducks, the Bruins have won 9 straight games away from the Rose Bowl.
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The weird thing about that streak, especially during last season, was the Bruins going 3-3 at home while winning all seven games on the road, including one of their biggest wins in the Alamo Bowl against Kansas State. Remarkable.
UCLA Bruins
Despite losing tough games at home, UCLA Football has been stellar, though far from perfect, away from home. In those losses, the Bruins won four games by five points or less. They had even struggled against Cal in a back-and-forth affair in Berkeley as well as needing double-overtime to pull off a victory over last-place Colorado.
The Bruins definitely felt the bumps on the road, but they also managed to pull out some spectacular wins. The defense was spectacular in a 28-20 win at Virginia. Everything was clicking in a 62-27 rout of Arizona State. The Bruins also managed to leash the Washington Huskies in Seattle with a 44-30 win.
No matter what they had in front of them, UCLA was able to conquer those obstacles.
So will that continue in 2015? It will start that way.
The Bruins begin their road campaign against UNLV, which many are expecting UCLA to blow out.
Nov 28, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins wide receiver Devin Lucien (15) is tackled by Stanford Cardinal cornerback Alex Carter (25) during the second half of the game at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
After that, it gets tough real quick. On September 26, the Bruins head to Arizona. On Thursday, October 15, they face Stanford in an awkwardly scheduled game up at the farm. UCLA then travels to Oregon State on November 7.
And then it gets worse to end the season as UCLA plays at Utah on November 21 and then at USC on November 28. Ouch.
Honestly, there are two games that I can confidently say the Bruins will win away from the Rose Bowl (UNLV and Oregon State). The other four are just brutal.
…if UCLA wants to be successful, they need to take it one game at a time…
This season, if UCLA Football wants to win the Pac-12 South, they most likely need to lose, at most, only two games. Now let us say the Bruins are perfect at home, that still leaves four games up in the air, all of which are on the road. If the Bruins split those games, then that could be enough to win the Division, but even that seems like a Herculean task.
UCLA Football always has trouble at Arizona, they have not beaten Stanford in seven attempts, will most likely have a slugfest with Utah and will certainly have one of their biggest games of the season at USC. No pressure though.
Still, like last season, if UCLA wants to be successful, they need to take it one game at a time. That all starts today in Las Vegas in a hot, hot affair!
Go Bruins!
Next: UCLA's Keys To Victory Over UNLV