This Saturday, UCLA will host Utah to begin its 2025 college football season. This will be one of the featured college football week one matchups with national attention on this game between two former Pac-12 schools in non-conference play.
Date: Saturday, August 30th
Time: 8:00 PM PT / 11:00 PM ET
Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena
TV/Streaming: FOX/ FOX One
Both teams are looking for redemption after last season. Both teams are entering the season with significant changes, as they only won five games last season and failed to make a bowl game. UCLA is in its second season under head coach DeShaun Foster and has revamped their offense with a new offensive coordinator in Tino Sunseri. They also have a new quarterback, Nico Iamaleava, who is expected to be a top-five quarterback in the Big Ten this year. Utah also has a new offensive coordinator, Jason Beck, and a new quarterback in Devon Dampier, a transfer from New Mexico. Both the Utes and Bruins offenses struggled last season, but both offenses should be significantly better this season.
Quarterback battle between two talented transfers. This game will feature two highly-touted transfer quarterbacks making their debuts with their new teams. Nico Iamaleava for UCLA and Devon Dampier for Utah are both expected to lead their teams to eight-plus win seasons this year. Expect Iamaleava to have the advantage in this game with the home crowd behind him.
Defensive adjustments are expected for both teams. They both had strong defenses last season, particularly against the run. However, Utah lost key players like Keanu Tanuvasa (transferred to BYU) and Karene Reid (NFL) from last season, and UCLA lost multiple key players from last year's team. Both teams are technically in "rebuilding" mode, but both defenses are expected to be good again this season.
History Between UCLA and Utah
The series between UCLA and Utah in football dates back to 1933. While UCLA holds the all-time series lead, Utah has been dominant in recent matchups, winning six out of the last seven games between these two former Pac-12 rivals.
All-Time Series Record: UCLA leads the series 12-9. The Bruins won the first eight games against the Utes but Utah has won seven of the last nine games against UCLA.
Most Recent Matchup between these two schools in football: The most recent game was on September 23, 2023, where Utah defeated UCLA 14-7 in Salt Lake City.
Largest Margins of victory for both teams: UCLA's largest margin of victory was a 66-16 win in 1973, while Utah's largest was a 49-3 victory in 2019.
Prediction for this game between UCLA and Utah.
If this game were played in Rice-Eccles Stadium or if it were played in November, we might be predicting a Utah win over UCLA. However, with this game being at home and on paper, the Bruins having the edge on offense, look for UCLA to win in a lower-scoring game to begin the season 1-0. Look for UCLA to get off to an early lead and for Utah to have a strong second half, but the Bruins hold on for a three-point victory.