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UCLA Football: 2018 game-by-game regular season predictions

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 21: The UCLA Bruins head off the field before their game against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl on October 21, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - OCTOBER 21: The UCLA Bruins head off the field before their game against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl on October 21, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 28: Running back Bolu Olorunfunmi #4 of the UCLA Bruins rushes against defensive back Jojo McIntosh #14 (L) and defensive back Taylor Rapp #21 of the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 28: Running back Bolu Olorunfunmi #4 of the UCLA Bruins rushes against defensive back Jojo McIntosh #14 (L) and defensive back Taylor Rapp #21 of the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on October 28, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

Week 4 – Bye

Most teams would like a bye week closer to the middle or the end of the season. This actually comes at a perfect time. Not only do the Bruins get to prepare an extra week for their first Pac-12 opponent (versus Colorado on a Friday in Boulder) but Kelly gets to make some tweaks on offense and defense. It will also be a chance for Kelly to really look at a few upcoming opponents.

Week 5 at Colorado

How does UCLA start Pac-12 play? Do they run full-bore at the conference? Hopefully, yes. What Kelly wants his team to do is tire the other team out. Running, attacking, blitzing, bombarding… Kelly wants to run straight at his opponent and do some damage. The Bruins will continue to do that against Colorado. It will still require some time to get to its potential, but the offense is getting there.

UCLA 27 – Colorado 17, W (3-1, 1-0)

Week 6 vs Washington

Though UCLA will be able to move the ball efficiently and with some tempo, it will be hard to do that against one of the top teams in not just the conference, but in the entire nation. Washington is stacked from top to bottom and though it will be a good team to practice their new tempo on, UCLA will come up short in this one. It will not be as bad of a loss as the Oklahoma game, because the Bruins will have made some interesting adjustments aginst a quality opponent, but the Huskies will assert their authority.

Washington 33 – UCLA 17, L (3-2, 1-1)

Week 7 at California

Recently, going up to Berkeley has not been fun for UCLA. In the last nine trips to the Bay Area, the Bruins have only been victorious once, but that was with Bob Toledo, Karl Dorell, Rick Neuheisel and Jim Mora (who got the lone victory). Now it is Kelly’s time. This will be a tough contest, especially with the magic Justin Wilcox is working in his second year at Berkeley, but UCLA squeaks out a win and goes above .500 in conference play.

UCLA 38 – California 35, W (4-2, 2-1)