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UCLA Football Early 2018 Schedule Preview: Arizona Wildcats

By Mike Regalado

BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A&M Aggies walks on the field prior to a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 25: Head coach Kevin Sumlin of the Texas A&M Aggies walks on the field prior to a game against the LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium on November 25, 2017 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 11: Quarterback Khalil Tate #14 of the Arizona Wildcats looks to pass during the second half of the college football game against the Oregon State Beavers at Arizona Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ – NOVEMBER 11: Quarterback Khalil Tate #14 of the Arizona Wildcats looks to pass during the second half of the college football game against the Oregon State Beavers at Arizona Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Arizona Special Teams

The kicking game was not a good one for Arizona as they were in the bottom half of the conference in both kickoffs and punts, with punting being dead last in the Pac as they averaged a paltry 29.4 net yards. Kickoffs were slightly better, but they are going to have to improve on 39.5 yards per kick.

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The return game was a lot better as net return average was in the top half of the Pac-12. Punts came back for 10.3 yards (5th in conference) while kickoffs were an impressive 24.9 yards (2nd in conference). Overall, not bad for the specialists, but kicking has to drastically improve.

Final Analysis

A lot of college football pundits are up in the air with both UCLA and Arizona. Though both teams have talent, they are in transition with new coaches. Some might even give the Wildcats a leg up as they not only have a returning QB, but a very good returning QB, one that was named Pac-12 Player of the Week four weeks in a row. UCLA is nowhere near picking their QB, so to properly analyze this game is a bit premature, but the one thing that UCLA does have in their corner is Chip Kelly.

There is no reason to think he will not be successful, but seeing as he knows how to develop players and properly formulate a game plan, this should bounce UCLA’s way.

Next: UCLA Football: 10 bold predictions for the 2018 season

Prediction

UCLA 45 – Arizona 42