UCLA and USC play important road games Saturday after winning their home openers last Saturday. The Bruins beat UNLV 42-21 and the Trojans exhausted Utah State 45-7.
Both teams will need to be at their best when UCLA travels to Utah to face BYU and USC has a date on the Farm when the play No. 7 Stanford in Palo Alto.
Stanford is led by consensus All-American, last season’s Rose Bowl Offensive Player of the Game Christian McCaffrey. He ran for 2,019 yards last year and became the first player in Rose Bowl history with 100 yards running and receiving.
The Stanford Cardinal is coached by David Shaw, who has won over 53 games during the past five years. “Dave has done a great job,” said USC head coach Clay Helton after their win over Utah State. “They are the Pac-12 Champions and we look forward to the opportunity to play them.” Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. and the game will be televised on Channel 7.
To stop Stanford from scoring the Trojans’ number one priority will be containing McCaffrey. USC held Utah State to 49 yards on 26 carries.
“We played a formula of winning football which is stopping the run,” said Helton. “It was great assignment football and the guys were making tackles in the open field.”
Helton was also happy with the offense. “We ran the ball efficiently and that set up opportunities for the wide receivers. Three different receivers scored. The receivers did a good job. Their yards after the catch were also good.”
Helton was also pleased with the play of his two quarterbacks, Max Browne and Sam Darnold. Bowne passed for 182 yards and Darnold had 62.
“We are very fortunate to have two quarterbacks that can play,” said Helton. “The game was not perfect but a 45-7 win at the Coliseum is pretty good.”
Stanford has McCaffrey and USC has Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson who plays defense, offense and special teams is a threat to score from anywhere on the field. Last Saturday he reached the end zone on a 77-yard punt return that displayed his 10.38 100 meter speed.
“I wanted to make something happen and get into the end zone,” said Jackson. “My teammates were blocking well so you have to give credit to them for getting me into the end zone.”
The Bruins will face a BYU team that lost to Utah 20-19 last Saturday on a failed two-point conversion try. As long as the Bruins have quarterback Josh Rosen they have a chance to win football games. He completed 23 of 38 passes for 270 yards but several of his receivers dropped passes.
When asked about the dropped passes Rosen said, “We are getting better and we have a lot of new guys so you have to let them ease into the situation and hopefully the number of passes we drop will decrease as the season progresses.
“We have a ton of great athletes so we are waiting for that guy to set up. I am still looking for someone I can count on in third situations. Last year it was Jordan Payton.”
Rosen, who is one of the most confident athletes in the nation, does not mind taking on the responsibility of being the face of UCLA football. “I believe I am the best college quarterback in the country,” said Rosen. “In order to do so I have to take the responsibility. I think I am getting better and I think you have to play with that confidence in order to be successful. You have to think it before it happens and you have to believe it. You have to eliminate the negatives.”
The Bruins play BYU Saturday at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN and they battle Stanford the following Saturday. If they expect to win those two games the Bruins and Rosen will need to play at a high level.
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