Go Joe Bruin ranks the UCLA Football team’s 2017 games from easiest to toughest. What will be the Bruins’ hardest game next season?
The UCLA Football team will have one heck of a time trying to bounce back from a 4-8 season in 2016 as they embark on another treacherous schedule in 2017.
UCLA has 12 games in the regular season and every single one of them should be a battle. Despite the talent that they will face, UCLA is in “must win” mode.
if Jim Mora and his Bruins want to show that last year was an anomaly, then they need to dig deep and come away victorious in as many of these games as possible. So to analyze the type of year they might have, let us look at their opponents by weakest to toughest:
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12. vs Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, Sept 9
At this level of college football, no game will be a cakewalk.
The Bruins need to take every single game and play harder than they ever have if they want to bring UCLA back to national prominence.
But with that being said, certain opponents will be a little bit easier to handle than others and taking this list into consideration, one team has to be the weakest on the Bruins’ schedule.
That is where Hawaii comes in. If UCLA does not watch themselves, this resurging team could run all over the Bruins. Fortunately for UCLA, they have the talent to help them get a victory over this scrappy Hawaii squad.
11. at Arizona Wildcats, Oct 14
Let us just say that whatever magic Rich Rodriguez brought the Arizona Wildcats football program five years ago, is slowly fading away.
Arizona has had a rough time in both recruiting and development of their players and it showed last lear five-year as they won only three games in 2016.
Last season, UCLA had run through the Wildcats in the Bruins’ most dominant game of the season. That should say something about Arizona as UCLA went 4–8 last season.
Not only will this be a win for the Bruins, but it should be another massacre. And yes, it is understood that this is in Tucson, a place that UCLA has not exactly been successful at, but given the status of both teams, the Bruins should absolutely destroy the Wildcats.
10. vs California Golden Bears, Nov 24
Revenge is Bruin. After last season’s finale up in Berkeley, UCLA will look to get back at big brother for the final game of 2017.
Cal lost their quarterback and their coach and are going to be a completely different team in 2017. With the Golden Bears in so much flux, they are going to do everything they can to get their program in the right direction.
Since UCLA plays Cal in the final game of the season again, both teams might be banged up, so who knows what that will do to the rosters. Either way, UCLA needs to get this victory over a team that they should beat every single season. It doesn’t matter if it’s in Berkeley or Pasadena, UCLA has to beat Cal.
9. vs Arizona State Sun Devils, Nov 11
Yes, ASU has been a thorn in Jim Mora’s side since both him and ASU Head Coach Todd Graham arrived in the Pac-12, but UCLA is in a better position to make something happen next season.
Also considering the fact that it was against Arizona State that Josh Rosen injured his shoulder and was out for the second half of 2016, the junior quarterback should be looking for some revenge against the Sun Devils at the Rose Bowl.
Arizona State might not be one of the strongest teams in the South Division, but when it comes to conference games, there is no gimme. UCLA needs to get a win against the Sun Devils because the rest of their schedule is a lot tougher.
8. at Memphis Tigers, Sept 16
This game is going to be difficult for several reasons. First off, it is the first game of the season on the road. After starting the year at the Rose Bowl against Texas A&M and Hawaii, the Bruins run into an up-and-coming team Tigers team. Though UCLA might have more talent, Memphis will be pumped to play the Bruins.
Secondly, UCLA needs to win this game if they want to show that they are better than their 2016 4-8 record suggests. This game will be tough and Mora has to prove he can win the tough games.
Third, this game kicks off at 9:30 a.m. PT, so it is pretty much a morning game for the Bruins. The last time UCLA had a “morning game” was in 2014 win the Brett Hundley-fronted Bruins struggled in 28-20 win at Virginia.
Yeah, fun times.
7. vs Colorado Buffaloes, Sept 30
Colorado finally proved in 2016 that they were ready to play with the big dogs of the Pac-12 as they captured the South Division.
In their game against UCLA last year, the Buffs led a second half assault on the wounded Bruins further falling into the Pac-12 abyss.
It was brutal (to say the least) if you were a UCLA fan as the Bruins were leading at halftime. But this year, the Bruins need to take control of the series and shut down Colorado.
The Buffaloes will be in transition with a new quarterback, but it doesn’t mean that they are going to be down. UCLA has to find a way to capitalize on Colorado’s weaknesses and make sure that they can close out the game better than last season.
6. vs Oregon Ducks, Oct 21
Honestly, this game is up in the air and that is why I think it will be extremely tough despite being ranked 6th on this list. But that is the thing about UCLA’s schedule, it is pretty brutal all around.
Oregon is in transition as new Head Coach Willie Taggart takes over a program that was heading in there wrong direction the last few seasons.
in addition, UCLA has not defeated Oregon since 2007, so no pressure there.
The bottom line is that UCLA has to be better than their opponents and they are going to have to find a way to defeat Oregon no matter if they continue their downfall or if they become Chip Kelly-esque once again.
5. at Utah Utes, Nov 3
A game against Utah is always tough and even though UCLA has been successful in Salt Lake City the last two games, it doesn’t guarantee that they’re going to walk out with a victory on this Friday night game which takes place in early November. Brrr.
Utah is always a tough game for the Bruins and should be tougher this season as they are projected to have a better finish in the Pac-12 than UCLA by several analysts. Now that is only speculation, considering what Utah did to UCLA last season, the Bruins need to have their best game when they face the Utes.
If both teams are fairly successful by the time they meet, this game could have Pac-12 championship implications.
4. vs Texas A&M Aggies, Sept 3
Even if Texas A&M finishes the season 0-12, this will still be a very difficult game for UCLA.
Let’s first discuss the pressure that will be on the Bruins. Not only will the eyes of the UCLA fan base be on the football team, but now the nation will have a live look in as the game was moved from Saturday to Sunday of Labor Day weekend. That is right, UCLA and Texas A&M have the day all to themselves.
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So not only does Jim Mora, Josh Rosen and the rest of the UCLA Football team have a lot to prove, but they are going to have a lot of people watching them begin the next era of the program with their third offensive coordinator in as many seasons.
And that isn’t even bringing Texas A&M in to consideration. Though they lost a considerable amount of players on both offense and defense, the Aggies are going to come prepared under the guidance of Head Coach Kevin Sumlin.
3. at Stanford Cardinal, Sept 23
UCLA has not beaten Stanford in nine tries so it’s really frustrating to know that the Bruins could have 10 consecutive losses against the Cardinal come next season.
That’s a bit too much to take in.
UCLA once again takes on Stanford early in the conference schedule (week four), which is good because Stanford sometimes stumbles early on finishes their season as one of the best in the conference. Unfortunately, Jim Mora has yet to beat David Shaw and that is going to be the main focus of this game.
This contest will show us what UCLA is made of but it could also show us that UCLA has not made changes from last season. Let’s hope that’s not the case. Stanford can’t always win. Or can they?
2.at Washington Huskies, Oct 28
So the Bruins will be going up against a team that was one of the four College Football Playoff teams last season, which basically means that they were one of the four best teams in the nation last year.
The Huskies have been rolling the last few years under Chris Petersen and they are expected to once again take the North Division and possibly the Pac-12 in 2017. Not only will they give UCLA a tough time in their first game since 2014, but with the game being in Seattle, that could create a whole other series of problems.
Husky Stadium will be loud, raucaus and the fans are going to give Jim Mora and his guys everything they have, so if UCLA wants to win this game, they better be otherworldly.
1. at USC Trojans, Nov 18
It is the Crosstown Showdown. It’s USC. It is a season in which the Trojans are expected to win, win, win and seeing as how USC has UCLA’s number the last few years, this is going to be the most difficult game on the schedule.
Now if UCLA improves in 2017, they could be in contention for the South Division, meaning this game could most likely determine who goes to the Pac-12 Championship Game.
But if UCLA once again performs below expectations, there will be a different kind of pressure to try and win this game, especially since they do not want to get embarrassed by their crosstown rivals for a third straight season.
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Either way, with USC on the up and up once again and UCLA looking to write the wrongs of 2016, beating USC will be critical to the Bruins season.