This weekend, the Oregon Ducks are venturing into their first-ever Big Ten matchup, but unlike many of the games ahead of Oregon this season, they’ll meet a familiar foe on the field this Saturday. The Ducks and the UCLA Bruins have been conference opponents in the Pac-12 for almost six decades, and this weekend, the Bruins will be the Ducks’ first conference matchup as a member of the Big Ten.
UCLA and Oregon first played one another in 1928 as members of the Pacific Coast Conference, and since then, they’ve played 71 games. The Ducks have won 39 of those meetings — including the first in 1928 and the most recent in 2022. UCLA has won the other 32, with no games between these teams ending in ties.
Recent history hasn’t been kind to the Bruins, as they’ve won just three of the 16 games played between these two schools in the 21st century. Oregon’s win in 2022 was the fourth consecutive win for the Ducks over UCLA.
The 2022 game was one of the most exciting in the history of this series. Coming in, Oregon was ranked 10th in the AP Poll and UCLA was 9th, with UCLA favored by many to take down the Ducks in Autzen Stadium.
Both teams had high-powered offenses, neither of which wavered through the start of the game. But when Dan Lanning chose to attempt a surprise onside kick in the second quarter, all the momentum swung in favor of the Ducks, who won the game 45-30.
Since the 2022 season, Oregon’s program has only gotten better, and UCLA’s has seen a significant decline. After last season, Bruins head coach Chip Kelly left for the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State, a sign of the turmoil in the Bruins football program. UCLA hired an exciting, young, and homegrown coach in DeShaun Foster, but the start of his tenure hasn’t been fantastic.