The Ohio State Buckeyes are once again heavy favorites this weekend, this time against the UCLA Bruins. Can UCLA pose a real challenge to the Buckeyes? Probably not. But upsets happen. If we are to see a stunner on Saturday, what would be the main reasons why?
The Bruins faced Penn State a little over a month ago when the Nittany Lions were one of the best teams in the country. One upset later, and Penn State’s season fell apart. UCLA knows what it takes to beat a team more talented that themselves. That brings belief, which is the first step in any upset.
Nico Iamaleava is basically the entirety of UCLA’s offense. That hasn’t gone well for the Bruins much this year. And it didn’t go well for Iamaleava last year when Tennessee met Ohio State in the College Football Playoff. But if UCLA wants to have a chance to make this close, he has to have the best game of his life.
Will Carnell Tate play this week? We don’t know. The offense stayed pretty smooth last week without him, but it clearly wasn’t at 100%. If he doesn’t play again, or isn’t fully healthy, then maybe the passing game might find a rough spot.
UCLA has one of the better passing defenses in the country. The Bruins also have one of the worst rushing defenses. But the running game is one of Ohio State’s weaknesses. If UCLA can slow down Julian Sayin and the passing attack, maybe the Bruins can frustrate Ohio State’s offense enough to make some mistakes.
The Bruins started the season playing some awful football. Since the win over Penn State, they’ve been playing competitive team football. They still got crushed by Indiana, so I would expect the same to happen this weekend. But at least the team is playing cohesively enough that a good game isn’t unimaginable.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: 5 reasons UCLA could trouble Ohio State on Saturday