Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Oregon 2018

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LAS VEGAS, NV – DECEMBER 16: Head coach Mario Cristobal of the Oregon Ducks looks on during the Las Vegas Bowl against the Boise State Broncos at Sam Boyd Stadium on December 16, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boise State won 38-28. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) /

The UCLA football team looks to get back on the winning track, but that will be quite the feat as Chip Kelly returns to his old stomping grounds at Oregon.

Is the UCLA football team improving or have they regressed to their non-conference selves? As wacky as the Bruins’ season has been, it has been same in the Pac-12 Conference.

Last weekend, the Conference of Champions experienced a reality check the likes of which we have not seen before. Oregon State beat Colorado in Boulder, Cal beat Washington 12-10, ASU beat USC, and the most unlikely, Arizona dismantled Oregon, 44-15.

The insanity looks like it is here to stay which is why anything can happen in Chip Kelly’s return to Eugene to face the team he left back in 2012.

Sure, there might be a few boisterous Ducks fans telling Kelly what they think of his departure and recent return to college football with a Pac-12 rival, but once that ball is kicked off at 4:30 p.m. PT, it will be all business.

The thing is, both UCLA and Oregon have a lot of problems. The offenses, defenses, and injuries have not been kind to the Bruins and Ducks, which makes this contest all the more intriguing. That is evident by the fact that Oregon opened up as 13-point favorites and has moved down to only eight in three days.

The Oregon Ducks (5-3, 2-3)

Even though it is head coach Mario Cristobal’s first season as head coach in Eugene, there was a lot expected from his Ducks, especially when you consider that the majority of the coaching staff was retained after Willie Taggart bolted for Florida State after one season in Oregon.

Cristobal was promoted to head coach from offensive coordinator, Jim Leavitt remained as defensive coordinator (but also got a significant pay raise), and the team was bringing back would-be Heisman candidate, QB Justin Herbert.

"DID YOU KNOW? The song “Shout”is played at the end of the 3rd quarter at Autzen Stadium. It is a tradition that pays homage to the 1978 movie Animal House, which was filmed at the University of Oregon."

The season started strong, with three huge wins (albeit over non-Power 5 schools), but reality quickly set in when conference play started. Though it was a close game, Oregon lost to #7 Stanford in the Pac-12 opener, 38-31. They bounced back with a win over then-ranked #24 Cal and shocked the conference with a 30-27 overtime victory over #7 Washington.

But since then, they lost to rising Washington State and succumbed to a huge 44-15 beating by Arizona. That was a result no one saw coming.

So which Ducks are going to show up on Saturday afternoon when Chip Kelly and the Bruins come to town?