UCLA football seeks sweep of Pac-12’s California teams with victory over Cal
UCLA rallied from a two-game losing streak and speculation about coach Chip Kelly’s job status to beat rival USC at the Coliseum last week.
While the Bruins took some time to celebrate the victory over their crosstown rival, Kelly made it clear that the team would get right back to work the following morning and prepare for another Pac-12 rivalry game against Cal.
“That’s the great thing about football,” Kelly said. “Every week is a season, no one really cares tomorrow what happened today.
“It’s gonna be the same exact thing, same exact mindset. We got to come back and we’re going to prepare to play a really good Cal team.”
Kelly also mentioned that UCLA will have the chance to beat the opposing three Pac-12 teams from the state in the same season.
“We have an opportunity to do that. That hasn’t been done very often,” Kelly said. “I know that we did it a couple of years ago when they told us we hadn’t done it since the 90s. It’s an opportunity for this football team to go back out and win a football game. And next week, the Cal game is really important to us.”
WHEN UCLA HAS THE BALL
The Bruins found a rhythm on offense last week against USC that has been missing for most of the season.
It’s been hard for the team to produce a level of consistency when UCLA’s had a rotation at quarterback that featured Dante Moore, Collin Schlee and Ethan Garbers among others.
Garbers played a complete game last week without sharing time with any of the other active quarterbacks after he missed time due to an injury the week prior against Arizona State.
“It didn’t really affect me that much,” Garbers said about the injury. “I was still at the facility every day, still in meetings, still doing everything. It was really good to get back out there and it was a lot of fun.”
Garbers is expected to start again this week against Cal, a team his older brother Chase had previously played for from 2017-2021.
Running back TJ Harden complemented Garbers in leading the offense, producing 142 yards on the ground against USC. Cal defense that’s allowed 139.7 rushing yards per game this season.
Cal joins Purdue as the only team ranked in the Top 50 for rush defense to allow 22 or more touchdowns this season.
The offense will have to continue to find ways to get its receivers involved. Logan Loya was the lead receiver last week with nine receptions and 60 yards. Tight end Hudson Habermehl scored two touchdowns on his only two catches of the game. Harden caught the only other receiving touchdown for the Bruins last week. No other receiver other than Loya had more than two catches.
WHEN CAL HAS THE FOOTBALL
Laiatu Latu and the defense can continue to cause havoc for the final time this season against opposing Pac-12 teams.
Latu continues to make his case as an All-American while leading a Top 12 defense (298.7 yards allowed per game) in the country. Gabriel and Grayson Murphy join Latu up front to help stop opposing rushing attacks, leading the nation in fewest rushing yards allowed per game (64.6 ypg).
Cal running back Jayden Ott will be the focal point of the Bruins’ game plan. He has rushed for 1,182 yards and 11 touchdowns in 10 games this season. He has also been involved in the receiving game, with 20 receptions for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The defensive front will have to apply pressure on redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza who has started six of the last seven games and completed 112 of 118 passes for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns. Mendoza has also thrown five interceptions.
Defensive back Alex Johnson could benefit from the pressure being applied up front and add to his potential All-American campaign with another forced turnover. Johnson has four interceptions this season and returned a recovered fumble for a touchdown last week.
Jeremiah Hunter and Trond Grizzell will be the receivers to watch in Cal’s offense. The duo has combined for 83 receptions for 1,066 yards and 10 touchdowns this season.