Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Colorado Buffaloes 2017
Coming off a pummeling at the hands of the Stanford Cardinal this UCLA Football program needs a quick rebound win. They’ll play host to the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday but will this be the bounce back win the Bruins need or will the defense again sink the ship?
Last year Colorado took a little trip in a time machine and was the surprise winner of the PAC-12 South in eyebrow raising fashion. If the stars were aligned for them last year this year they’ve been a bit askew. After taking care of a rather pedestrian out of conference schedule the Buffaloes, just like the UCLA Football team, ran into a PAC-12 North wood chipper. Only instead of the Cardinal it was the Washington Huskies to the tune of a 37-10 loss.
Both teams need a win, especially in conference play to potentially salvage their seasons. The Bruins played a defensive, quagmire of a game last season before eventually losing 20-10 and in 2015 barely escaped with a 35-31 win in the Rose Bowl.
Washington shut down the best weapons Colorado could bring to bear and forced their young QB into three interceptions as he struggled to make plays happen for his team. Defensively this Colorado team is still struggling to find consistency especially after giving up 21 points to Northern Colorado raised some eyebrows. Those doubts were confirmed for some with the dominance of the Huskies during the game.
So this becomes the battle of not just teams looking to bounce back but for a pair of defenses looking to wipe some egg off their faces. Someone will lose this game. One team will end their night 1-1 in conference play while one will fall to a dreaded 0-2 standing.