– Last Updated on July 25, 2018 10:36 am
2018 Football Preview – PAC 12 – Bruins
Looking for 2018 UCLA Bruins predictions? No team made a bigger splash with their coaching hire than UCLA when they brought in Chip Kelly. I am not sure Kelly can get things going like he did in Oregon because that is just really hard to do but the interest level is now way up in Westwood and the program is only going to get better while he is in control.
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2018-19 College Football Preview – UCLA Bruins
Head Coach: Chip Kelly
2018 Record: 6-7
UCLA Bruins Odds to win the 2018 FBS Championship: 150/1
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Excitement may be way up this season but performance may take a while.
2018 UCLA Bruins Predictions: Team Strengths
Coaching Matters : From the moment things didn’t work out in the NFL it seemed only a matter of time before Chip Kelly took a college coaching position…though not many would have predicted UCLA.
Kelly is more than just a head coach he is perhaps the best offensive innovator in the game and he will look to speed up the Bruins and give them some schematic advantages.
Last year with an NFL bound quarterback they were able to throw the ball around but could not run worth a lick.
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This season, expect those numbers to balance out and for the seeds to be down for one of the best offenses in the PAC 12.
Experience on D: This might be risky to be considered a strength given that UCLA had the worst defense in the conference and one of the worst in the nation last year.
Be that as it may, six starters return on that side of the ball and the secondary looks especially primed for more success with CB Nate Meadows and S Adarius Pickett two seniors coming off good seasons.
Jerry Azzinaro has worked for Kelly in multiple stops and should get the defensive line to be more productive, while getting the defense to perform with in sync with the offensive changes.
2018 UCLA Bruins Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Who is Operating the Offense?: Chip Kelly will be his own offensive coordinator but he also needs someone on the field pulling the strings.
Devon Modster is a sophomore but whatever experience he gained last season will be of minimal value. He is considered a pro style guy but is also athletic.
There was buzz when Wilton Speight announced he was coming after time at Michigan but the grad transfer hardly lit it up with the Wolverines and doesn’t seem to match the ideal Chip Kelly quarterback.
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One thing that will help out any QB is a strong running game. Last year the Bruins were not very committed in that area but that should change.
They have a couple of senior RBs in Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olorunfumni, great names but hardly the calibre Kelly is used to. Still schemes will help.
Only three starters return on offense so it is basically being built from scratch. We might not see huge gains this season but that is probably the way Kelly likes it.
UCLA Bruins Prediction: 3-9
Things look like they are going to get worse before they get better, especially with few gimmes on the schedule.
The opener should be a win but it might be ugly when they visit Oklahoma and Fresno State looks like one of the top teams in the Mountain West again this season.
In the PAC 12 they have tough crossover games getting the top three teams from the North in Washington, Stanford and Oregon. Cal should be a win but it is on the road. Their home schedule in PAC 12 South play is USC, Arizona and Utah. Again those are the good teams.
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That record looks pretty ugly but there just aren’t that many coin flip games that I can see. If you are going higher on wins you are counting on a lot of improvement throughout the season.
2018 UCLA Bruins Football Schedule
- 9/1/18 7:00 PM ET Cincinnati
- 9/8/18 1:00 PM ET @Olahoma
- 9/15/18 10:30 PM ET Fresno State
- 9/28/18 9:00 PM ET @Colorado
- 10/6/18 TBD Washington
- 10/13/18 TBD @California
- 10/20/18 TBD Arizona
- 10/26/18 10:30 PM ET Utah
- 11/3/18 TBD @Oregon
- 11/10/18 TBD @Arizona State
- 11/17/18 TBD USC
- 11/24/18 TBD Stanford
What do you think about our 2018 UCLA Bruins predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2018!
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