Along with the rest of the Pac-12, the UCLA football program released their schedule for the 2019 season which includes a tough road slate and the return of a Thursday night contest.
Already jonesing for UCLA football? Well, the Pac-12 is ready to whet your whistle as they have released their 2019 schedules and it looks like the Bruins will have another strong strength of schedule.
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UCLA can now plan accordingly as they move into the next phase of the Chip Kelly era. After starting off 3-7 in his first season with the Bruins, Kelly will look to have a few more in 2019 and looking at the schedule, it will take some effort.
The 2019 UCLA Football Schedule
- August 31 at Cincinnati
- September 7 vs SDSU
- September 14 vs Oklahoma
- September 21 at Washington State
- September 28 at Arizona
- Oct 5 vs Oregon State
- October 17 (Thursday) at Stanford
- October 26 vs Arizona State
- November 2 vs Colorado
- November 16 at Utah
- November 23 at USC
- November 30 vs Cal
The non-conference has been set for a while, so the Bruins simply needed the Pac-12 to get the conference slate in order. Once again, it will be tough, especially when UCLA is on the road.
Speaking of the road, the Bruins start both the season and conference schedule away from Pasadena. The 2019 season will begin with a fight against what turned out to be a very good Bearcats team, so trying to get the win on their home turf will test UCLA.
They begin their home schedule with back-to-back games against San Diego State and College Football Playoff bound Oklahoma. Will the Sooners be just as strong without Kyler Murray when they visit the Arroyo Seco or can the Bruins pull out the win?
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The Bruins then travel to Washington State and Arizona before coming back to Pasadena to face Oregon State.
UCLA then has a bye due to their unappreciated Thursday night game at Stanford. The Bruins once again have a two-game homestand as they host ASU and Colorado. Then they hit the road again for games at Utah and USC. Things wrap up with a home game versus Cal.
An interesting pattern (Away, Home, Home, Away, Away, Home, Away, Home, Home, Away, Away, Home), but the thing that sticks out with this schedule is UCLA’s road games. This year they are at Cincinnati, Wazzu, Arizona, Stanford, Utah, and USC and every single one of those games will be a battle.
If UCLA wants to win the South Division next season, they might have to win at least half of these games and that will be an incredibly difficult task.
UCLA’s home slate should be a bit easier, outside of Oklahoma. Not only will that be a tough game, but if UCLA fans don’t flood the Rose Bowl, Sooner fans will. The Bruins also have to watch out for ASU and then Cal to end the season but should have easy contests against SDSU, Oregon State, and Colorado.