The UCLA Football team has a winning record when they play on Thursday nights in the Jim Mora era. Will they get another win this Thursday against Colorado?
The UCLA Football team has not been doing well this season and head into a crucial game this Thursday against Colorado.
For the Bruins, it is a chance to stay relevant, end the season respectably and try to get to a decent bowl game. For Colorado, who currently leads the Pac-12 South Division, it is a chance to extend their lead as they aim for the Pac-12 Championship Game.
Now let us face it, Thursday night games are weird. There is an overall awkward vibe to the game, which often brings some interesting displays of football .
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UCLA is no stranger to this and has luckily come out on top in most of their Thursday night contests. In Head Coach Jim Mora‘s time in Westwood, the Bruins are 3-1 in these midweek games.
In 2013, UCLA battled the Utah Utes and the elements on a cold, rainy and snowy Thursday night in Salt Lake City. UCLA’s defense snatched 5 interceptions away from Utah QB Travis Wilson which included game-saving INT by uber-freshman Myles Jack. UCLA won that battle, 34-27.
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The next year, UCLA went into Tempe and destroyed Arizona State 62-27 in a game where UCLA put up 580 yards on the Sun Devils. ASU also put up 626 yards of their own. Weird, I tell you.
The Bruins hit their first Thursday night bump in the road in 2015. Aside from needing to prepare for two consecutive Thursday night games, the Bruins had to travel to Stanford, who they had not beaten in seven tries. After this game it would be eight.
Stanford smashed UCLA 56-35. Luckily, UCLA bounced back.
Seven days later, the Bruins hosted their first Thursday night game at the Rose Bowl against the #20 California Golden Bears. UCLA dominated that game and exposed Cal as pretenders in and 40-24 victory.
So this now brings us to Colorado. It is not going to be easy, but when has it been this season? Hopefully UCLA has taken this bye week to make the adjustments to take on a very balanced Colorado Buffaloes team.
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Though I expect a lot of wackiness from this Thursday night game, as usual, it does not mean UCLA will again be victorious. The Bruins have to dig deep and execute. If they can control the ball and not make dumb mistakes, this game should be there’s for the taking.