Checking in with a short and sweet post from the road. Just saw the CFN picks this morning. Well the CFN picked us to lose last week, this week they are going with the Bruins,expecting us to handle the Beavers at the Rose Bowl:
Why UCLA might win:Oregon State's pass defense made life miserable for Cal's Joe Ayoob last week, but has been lousy all season long with only Purdue's secondary giving up more yards. Maurice Drew might be the feature star for the Bruins, but this is a passing team with Drew Olson has hot as any quarterback in the conference throwing at least two touchdown passes in each of his last five games highlighted by a five-touchdown day against Washington State. He has been accurate, efficient, and clutch in his ability to lead the team in three straight fourth quarter comebacks. A 300-yard passing day is an almost certainty.
Who to watch:It's the return of former UCLA starting quarterback Matt Moore to L.A. The junior transferred to Oregon State after losing the starting job to Drew Olson a few years ago, and admits to having a big of a chip on his shoulder in the return trip. He has generally been accurate, but he has a penchant for throwing interceptions with ten on the year and eight in his last three games. Shockingly enough for a quarterback of a passing offense like Oregon State's, he only has three touchdown passes against D-I teams this year after a four touchdown day to open the season at Portland State. This should be a bit of a shootout, so if Moore isn't as good as Olson, Oregon State won't win.
What will happen:Oregon State is playing far better defense than the statistics might show and should be able to keep Maurice Drew to under 100 yards, this is a very confident UCLA team that knows it can turn the jets on late if it has to. It won't have to.
CFN Prediction:UCLA 45 ... Oregon State 27 ...
Hey, I am expecting a 20+ pt blowout. I think it's time we put together our first complete game, coming out on fire right out of the gate. I believe O and A, will have more posts later today. Will try to check back in later. Meantime, if you have any observations, thoughts, fire away ...
Who to watch:It's the return of former UCLA starting quarterback Matt Moore to L.A. The junior transferred to Oregon State after losing the starting job to Drew Olson a few years ago, and admits to having a big of a chip on his shoulder in the return trip. He has generally been accurate, but he has a penchant for throwing interceptions with ten on the year and eight in his last three games. Shockingly enough for a quarterback of a passing offense like Oregon State's, he only has three touchdown passes against D-I teams this year after a four touchdown day to open the season at Portland State. This should be a bit of a shootout, so if Moore isn't as good as Olson, Oregon State won't win.
What will happen:Oregon State is playing far better defense than the statistics might show and should be able to keep Maurice Drew to under 100 yards, this is a very confident UCLA team that knows it can turn the jets on late if it has to. It won't have to.
CFN Prediction:UCLA 45 ... Oregon State 27 ...