Perhaps only Texas A&M had a more frustrating October than the UCLA Bruins, as the program went from a top-10 team hot off a huge 62-27 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils to an unranked afterthought in two games. While a narrow win over Cal has UCLA back in the rankings, the Bruins have a long way to climb and not a lot of time to do it.
How to watch UCLA vs. Colorado: Game guide, TV schedule, streaming, odds
UCLA needs to finish a disastrous October strong with a big win over Colorado.
Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Closing out the month for UCLA is a trip to play the Colorado Buffaloes, a team that is still looking for its first conference victory. With a double-overtime loss to Cal and a 36-31 loss to Oregon State, the Buffaloes have come close and have a big-play passing offense that can create issues for any team that takes the trip to Boulder lightly.
Sophomore quarterback Sefo Liufau has 2,030 yards passing and 21 touchdowns through seven games, although he has the propensity to throw interceptions. Liufau leads the Pac-12 with nine picks, so keeping the ball out of the hands of UCLA defenders will be a priority for Colorado on Saturday afternoon.
How to watch, listen, and stream
Game time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: Pac-12 Network (Kevin Calabro, Yogi Roth)
Radio: AM 570, Fox Sports LA (UCLA), Newsradio 850 KOA (Colorado)
Online streaming: Pac-12 Live
Our blogs on these teams
The numbers
Rankings and records: UCLA is No. 25 in the AP Poll and unranked in the Coaches’ Poll, while Colorado is unranked in both. The Bruins are 5-2 overall with a 2-2 record in Pac-12 play while the Buffaloes are 0-4 in conference and 2-5 overall.
Vegas: UCLA opened as a 12.5-point road favorite against Colorado and that line has swelled some to 14 points. The over/under has remained steady at 68 points.
Weather forecast: 79 degrees and sunny.
Two things at stake
Colorado isn’t going to make a run in the tough Pac-12 South and the team would need a miracle to have any shot at bowl eligibility, so this is a team without much to lose.
For UCLA though, a win is an absolute must if the team wants to keep up with a Pac-12 South that is quickly shifting out of their grasp. Games against Arizona and USC are still on the schedule though, and UCLA has a tiebreaker over Arizona State, so a run to the Pac-12 Championship Game is certainly feasibly. It won’t be, though, if the team drops a game against Colorado that it should win.
One big matchup
UCLA vs. turnovers: The Bruins have done an exceptional job at beating themselves in October with six turnovers in the last three games, including three in a narrow victory over California. Luckily for UCLA, Colorado isn’t the best at forcing turnovers and only has seven all season.
Still, UCLA’s battle with fumbling issues will be a key to overcome on Saturday and Colorado needs to take advantage in that area to attempt to pull the upset.
Further reading
For full coverage of UCLA, visit Bruins Nation. For extended coverage of Colorado, check out The Ralphie Report.
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