Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Utah 2018

1 of 4

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes looks at a replay in the first half of a game against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /

The UCLA football team got their first win at the Rose Bowl this season. Can they get their second when Utah comes to town this Friday?

The UCLA football team got their second win of the season last week and their first win at the Rose Bowl. It was a hard-fought, stressful battle that showed us that the Bruins still have a long way to go. But it also showed that they still have some fight, fight, fight in them.

Despite being winless at 0-5 two weeks ago, the Bruins have rattled off two victories which have surprisingly kept them alive in the South Division. Last week, Utah brutalized USC, giving both teams a 3-2 record on top of the division standings (and obviously, Utah has the tie-breaker).

With UCLA going 2-2 in conference play, they have put themselves half a game back of first place behind the Utes, which means that this game is crucial to both team’s divisional hopes. Can you imagine? The Bruins, who some were expecting to go 0-12 this season, could be at the top of the South after this weekend.

That is if they beat Utah, a team that has owned the Bruins at the Rose Bowl the last two meetings.

light. Related Story. UCLA Football - Don’t expect the blur offense, expect the obscure offense

The Utah Utes

Is this game against Utah going to be tough? Do hipsters have beards? Yes. Proof of that comes in the form of a sweep of weekly Pac-12 Awards. Quarterback Tyler Huntley was the offensive player of the week, LB Chase Hansen was the defensive player of the week and K Matt Gay was the special teams player of the week.

"DID YOU KNOW? Kyle Whittingham has been involved with te Utah football program since 1994. He has been the Utes defenisve line coach, linebackers coach, defensive coordinator and now the head coach."

The Utes are tough, there is no doubt about that, but they are also human. There is a reason they are 3-2 in conference, although both of those losses came at the hands of Washington and Washington State, two teams that are helping to make the Pac-12 North Division one of the most dangerous in the country.

But let us not forget that Utah downed Stanford and humiliated USC, limiting the Trojans to just over 200 total yards and took out their top two quarterbacks. Needless to say, after their first two conference losses, the Utes have been on a roll.

So what is UCLA going to see on Friday when it comes to the Utes offense?