UCLA
Oklahoma
Bruins Hit Road to Face No. 6/5 Oklahoma
September 04, 2018 | Football
Venue: Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium (83,489)
Kickoff Time: Noon CT/10 a.m. PT
Television: FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570/1150/97.3 FM Josh Lewin (play-by-play),Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (sideline)
Sirius 136//XM 198/Internet Ch. 960
Nat'l Radio (Westwood One): Ryan Radtke and Derek Rackley on call
UCLA (0-1) will travel to Oklahoma (1-0, ranked No. 6 by AP and No. 5 in the USA Today coaches poll) on September 8 at 10:00 a.m. PT/Noon CT. The game will be televised by FOX. The Bruin IMG Radio Network will broadcast the contest, which will also be aired over Sirius/XM, 97.3 FM THE FAN, uclabruins.com and tunein.com and the TuneIn App. The Bruins will be looking for their fi rst series win in Norman and their fi rst win on the road since a Sept. 17, 2016 contest at BYU (a stretch of 10 straight setbacks in true road games).
The Bruins won the last meeting between OU and UCLA was held in the Rose Bowl in 2005. QB Drew Olson threw for 314 yards and three scores as UCLA defeated then-No. 21 Oklahoma 41-24. The Sooners had six fumbles in the game which led to 17 Bruin points. The UCLA defense held the Sooner's Adrian Peterson, the 2004 Heisman Trophy runner-up to 58 yards on 23 carries. The Bruins led 20-17 heading into the final quarter. In the fourth quarter, Olson connected with Marcedes Lewis for a 19-yard scoring pass and Chris Markey on a 7-yard TD pass. Maurice Jones-Drew finished off the scoring with a nine-yard run.
In the last meeting in Norman in the third game of the 2003 campaign, OU was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time and captured a 59-24 decision, returning an interception and three Bruin punts for scores. Maurice Jones-Drew scored a pair of touchdowns for the Bruins, one on a 91-yard kickoff return. Drew Olson threw for a couple of touchdowns and receiver Craig Bragg had 10 catches in the contest.
First-year head coach Chip Kelly was named UCLA's head football coach on Nov. 25, 2017. Kelly compiled a 46-7 record in four seasons as the head coach at the University of Oregon (2009-12). During that span, his Duck teams captured fi rst place or a share of first in the North Division of the conference (three outright conference championships 2009-11) and four BCS bowl games. Kelly guided Oregon to appearances in a National Championship Game (2010), two Rose Bowls (after 2011 and 2009 seasons) and the Fiesta Bowl following the 2012 season. He also has served as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers (2016) and the Philadelphia Eagles (2013-15). Kelly was named the 2009 and 2010 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, 2010 Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year, 2010 Walter Camp Coach of the Year, 2010 Sporting News Coach of the Year, 2010 AFCA Coach of the Year Award and 2010 Associated Press Coach of the Year.
This will be the third series meeting with Oklahoma played in Norman. UCLA is 17-14-0 all-time vs. teams in the current Big 12 Conference -- Baylor (0-1), Iowa State (1-1), Kansas (5-2), Kansas State (2-2), Oklahoma (1-3), Oklahoma State (1-1), Texas (4-3), TCU (3-1), Texas Tech (0-0), West Virginia (0-0).
THE WATCH LIST
โข 54 players saw action vs. Cincinnati, 24 saw their first action as Bruins and 10 players made their first career starts (6 off., 4 def.) as Bruins ... First career starts as Bruins in 2018 - vs. Cincinnati: OT Jake Burton, OG Justin Murphy, C Christaphany Murray, QB Wilton Speight, RB Joshua Kelley, WR Dymond Lee; DL Atonio Mafi , DL Martin Andrus Jr., LB Tyree Thompson, S Quentin Lake (in addition OG Michael Alves and OT Andre James switched from right side to left side starters in the opener)
โข The 74-yard scoring run by Kazmeir Allen was the third longest by a Bruin true freshman ... Maurice Jones-Drew recorded the top mark with an 83-yard jaunt vs. Arizona State in 2003. Allen's total of 103 yards rushing rates second behind the 120-yard debut effort by Myles Jack in 2013 game at Arizona.
โข S Adarius Pickett (15), S Quentin Lake (9), OLB Jaelan Phillips (9) and ILB Lokeni Toailoa (5), DL Martin Andrus Jr. (4) each had career highs for tackles vs. Cincinnati. Lake was making his first career start.
โข WR Theo Howard has caught a pass in each of his last 17 straight games. He hauled in a career-high 11 receptions in last year's game vs. USC. Howard's 56 catches last season were the 16th-most in school single-season annals.
โข Christaphany Murray became the first true freshman to start an opener at center for the Bruins since at least 1982 (complete records date to '82) ... the last true freshman to start along the offensive line for the Bruins was Najee Toran (guard) in the 2014 opener at Virginia.
โข The 304 yards gained by Cincinnati last week was the lowest output by an opponent since the 2016 win at BYU (273 yards for the Cougars). The Bruins held one opponent under 400 yards of offense last season (Oregon - 320 yards).
โข UCLA's roster has the fourth-highest percentage of underclassmen in the nation according to a pre-season survey of FBS schools: 76.7% Illinois (78/102); 75.2% Appalachian State (88/117); 72.1% Cincinnati (80/111); 71.7% UCLA (76/106); UCLA also has the third fewest number of upperclassmen: 24-Illinois, 29-Appalachian State, 30-UCLA.
โข UCLA has posted a 13-13 overall record against ranked opponents since the start of the 2012 season. The last time the Bruins faced a team ranked as high as No. 6 in the AP Poll was in a 2013 loss at No. 2 Oregon. UCLA's last win against a top-10 ranked opponent came in 2010 at No. 7 Texas.
IN BRIEF
โข Caleb Wilson's dad is an assistant coach with the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL - (Chris - Eagles DL coach is a former player in the NFL who was a standout in college at Oklahoma where he was a four-year letterwinner from 1988-91 ... Chris Wilson recorded 303 career tackles and was named a team captain twice during his collegiate tenure. He earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Oklahoma in 1992.
โข The Bruins roster includes 53 players listed as freshmen (36 true frosh / 17 redshirt freshmen) and seven seniors, plus two grad transfers.
