This is arguably the biggest game remaining on Nebraska’s schedule. The UCLA Bruins are 2-5 with wins over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. If the Huskers can’t grab their sixth win here, they’ll be in trouble for the rest of the season.
The Bruins sit in an interesting spot with their 2-5 record. UCLA took down a struggling Rutgers team that looked baffled defensively against them and could not deliver simple stops.
Ethan Garbers delivered his best performance of the season against the Scarlet Knights, going 32-of-38 for 383 yards and four touchdowns. He also led UCLA in rushing, going for 48 yards and a touchdown off nine carries.
But the Bruins’ defense still surrendered 32 points to the Scarlet Knights, who almost came back from a 35-19 deficit. Rutgers’ Athan Kaliakmanis completed 18-of-30 for 287 yards, while Kyle Monangai rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns off 19 carries.
Nebraska’s offense is looking to wake up following three lackluster performances, and UCLA is the team to do it against. The Bruins have allowed over 20 points in six games and over 30 points in four games.
However, teams that trampled UCLA challenged the Bruins at the line, and downfield, areas Nebraska has either struggled to dominate or just avoided as of late. If the Huskers want to win this battle on offense, it needs to fix that, or at the very least, take a step in the right direction in this game.
But it’s not just Nebraska’s offense that needs to win on the day. Though the Huskers defensively held Ohio State to 21 points, they must be cautious with UCLA’s passing offense. The Bruins average just over 64 rushing yards per game but over 237 passing yards.
The Huskers’ passing defense remains their biggest weakness overall. In Nebraska’s three losses, the Huskers surrendered a combined 716 passing yards and ten touchdowns off 58 completions. To top it all off, Nebraska forced just 15 total incompletions in that span.
With Garbers’ recent outing being his season-best, the Huskers cannot allow for another quarterback to leave them lost.
The last time Nebraska won a bowl game, it defeated UCLA in 2015. Now, the opportunity to snap an eight-year bowl-game drought arrives with the Bruins again.
This needs to be the game the Huskers end the drought, otherwise the likelihood of another 5-7 season goes up significantly.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 27, UCLA 13
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