UCLA
Arizona State
No. 10 Football Visits Sun Devils Saturday
November 01, 2022 | Football
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Sun Devil Stadium
Kickoff Time: 7:40 p.m. PT
Television: FS1
TV Talent: Noah Eagle (play-by-play), Mark Helfrich (analyst)
Radio (UCLA Sports Network from IMG College): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (sideline)
SiriusXM: Ch. 83
SXM App: Ch. 83
THE MATCHUP
UCLA heads to the desert for a Saturday matchup at Arizona State to play as an AP Top 10-ranked team for the first time in the month of November since 2014. The Bruins, ranked No. 10 by the AP and No. 11 by the coaches, will take on the Sun Devils in a battle to be televised by FS1 at 7:30 p.m. PT. The Bruin IMG Radio Network will broadcast the contest, which will also be aired over SiriusXM and the Varsity App.
UCLA is 1-1 on the road in the Pac-12 this season after posting a league-best 4-1 mark away from home in 2021. Adding in its December 2020 win at Arizona State, the Bruins have won six of their last eight Pac-12 road contests. UCLA's overall winning percentage for the past two seasons of .750 (15-5), entering this week's action, is behind only Oregon (17-5, .773) among Pac-12 schools during that stretch.
In its last game, UCLA dealt Stanford a 38-13 loss in the Rose Bowl. Zach Charbonnet accounted for 259 all-purpose yards, including a career-high-tying 198 yards on the ground against the Cardinal. The previous week, UCLA saw its nine-game win streak stopped at Oregon in a 45-30 decision. Charbonnet ran for 151 yards, Jake Bobo caught eight passes for 101 yards and Dorian Thompson-Robinson generated 300 yards of total offense. UCLA had registered a ninth straight win by dealing then-No. 11 Utah a 42-32 setback on Oct. 8 and moved to 3-0 in the league for the first time since 2007. Charbonnet ran for 198 yards against the Utes. The previous week, it handed then-No. 15 Washington a 40-32 verdict on a Friday night in the Rose Bowl. UCLA opened the league slate in Boulder, Colo. with a 45-17 triumph over Colorado.
AT A GLANCE
โข This week's matchup features the top two rushers in the Pac-12 in Zach Charbonnet (137.7 yards per game) and Xazavian Valladay of Arizona State (95.0).
โข UCLA enters the month of November with seven wins for the first time since it was 8-0 in 2005. With a win against Stanford last week that improved its record to 2-1 for the month, UCLA recorded only its third month of October with a winning percentage of better than .500 since 2012 (also 2012 and 2019). UCLA heads into November 2022 after posting a perfect 3-0 in November games during the 2021 season.
โข Over the past two seasons, Oregon (17-5, .773) and UCLA (15-5, .750) own the top two winning percentages among Pac-12 teams.
โข The Bruins are ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 this week and No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll. The last time UCLA has been rated in the top 10 by the AP for a game played in the month of November was in 2014, when it was ranked No. 9 in its Nov. 28, 2014 game against Stanford.
โข The Bruins have won six of their last eight road contests (wins at Colorado in 2022, USC, Washington, Arizona and Stanford in 2021 and Arizona State in 2020 ... losses at Oregon in 2022 and Utah in 2021).
โข Charbonnet has rushed for at least one touchdown in each of his last nine Pac-12 games ... he has run for at least 100 yards in each of his last seven Pac-12 games for a total of 1,048 yards on 144 carries (7.3 yards per run) and 11 touchdowns ... he leads the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (137.7) ... he is the only Pac-12 performer averaging more 100 yards a game on the ground this season ... Charbonnet also leads the league in all-purpose yards per game (170.86), a mark that rates second nationally and is more than 60 yards per game ahead of the next league player ... he is tied for the Pac-12 lead with 10 rushing touchdowns this season.
โข Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who is rated fifth in the nation with a completion percentage of .723, ranks 10th nationally in passing efficiency at 165.7 (Cade McNown owns the UCLA record with a 168.6 mark in 1997).
โข WIth his next start, Thompson-Robinson will tie McNown (1995-98) for most career starts by a Bruin quarterback with 44. Thompson-Robinson, with 9,512 career passing yards, moved up to No. 3 on the all-time school list against Stanford. with Brett Hundley (2011-14) No. 2 on that list with 9,966. Atop the chart is McNown, who totaled 10,708.
LAST MEETINGS
In last year's meeting at the Rose Bowl, Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 235 yards and rushed for 93 more in then No. 20 UCLA's 42-23 loss to Arizona State. After the Bruins timmed the Sun Devils' lead to just one point, at 24-23, as time expired in the first half, ASU proceeded to outscore UCLA 18-0 in the second half of action to secure the win. The Bruins ran 83 plays compared to ASU's 51, but the Sun Devils scored on three plays of 40-plus yards. Greg Dulcich, now with the Denver Broncos, led UCLA receivers with nine catches for 136 yards, while Zach Charbonnet rushed for 89 yards on 21 carries.
In the most recent meeting between the two programs played in Tempe, Ariz., the Bruins jumped out to a 17-point lead before giving up 18 unanswered points, only to score with 69 seconds remaining to come away with a 25-18 victory in 2020. After ASU rallied to take the lead on a 11-play, 75-yard drive with 4:26 remaining, UCLA countered with a methodical drive down the field, racking up six first downs along the way before Demetric Felton Jr. scored on a two-yard run to put UCLA up 23-18. A two-point conversion provided the final margin. Thompson-Robinson completed 18 of 24 passes for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for 49 yards and another score. Kyle Philips caught six passes to lead UCLA receivers.
TEAM NOTES
โข Top-20 Bruin NCAA rankings: completion percentage - second (.719), tackles for loss allowed - fifth (3.75 per game), 3rd down conversion percentage - ninth (.510), total offense - ninth (500.4 yards per game), team passing efficiency - 10th (164.9), scoring - 11th (39.6 points per game), rushing offense - 13th (222.1 yards per game), kickoff return yardage - 16th (23.5 per game) and turnovers lost - 18th (eight).
โข UCLA has captured wins in six of its last eight Pac-12 road contests over the past two and a half seasons โ wins at Colorado in 2022, USC, Washington, Arizona and Stanford in 2021 and Arizona State in 2020 ... losses at Oregon in 2022 and Utah in 2021.
โข UCLA has forced at least one turnover in nine of its past 10 games ... it had a streak of forcing at least one turnover in nine straight games snapped at Oregon ... UCLA is +26 turnovers in wins and -25 in losses overall under head coach Chip Kelly ... in 2021, UCLA was +5 in turnovers for the season, but committed seven of its 14 turnovers in its four 2021 losses ... in its four 2020 losses, UCLA committed 12 of its 13 turnovers on the season.
โข UCLA is ranked ninth in the NCAA (third in Pac-12) in total offense this week (500.4 yards per game) ... the Bruins compiled 626 yards of total offense in the win over Bowling Green, the most since it racked up 657 in a comeback win at Washington State Sept. 22, 2019. It is the third time in Coach Kelly's Bruin tenure the team has recorded 600 or more yards (also 609 at USC in 2021).
โข UCLA is rated 49th in the nation (third in Pac-12) in total defense (360.5 yards per game) entering the week ... it held BGSU to 162 yards of total offense in the opener (39 rushing, 125 passing) ... it marked the first time UCLA held a team to fewer than 200 yards since its 2020 game against California (176). The last time a UCLA defense limited an opponent to fewer than 162 yards of total offense was 2008, when ASU gained 122 yards (21 rushing, 101 passing).
โข UCLA has scored five touchdowns of 50 or more yards this season. The Bruins score three against BGSU alone: Dorian Thompson-Robinson's 68-yard run, a 52-yard catch and run by Keegan Jones from Thompson-Robinson and a 50-yard strike from Ethan Garbers to Josiah Norwood.The Bruins added a 70-yard pass play from Thompson-Robinson to Logan Loya against Utah. Kazmeir Allen raced 72 yards for a touchdown against Stanford. It had three such plays all of 2021.
โข UCLA has won its last eight home games (2022 against Stanford, Utah, UW, South Alabama, Alabama State and BGSU and 2021 versus California and CU), which is its longest streak since capturing wins in 10 straight home contests over the 2005 and 2006 seasons. It has also claimed wins against its last five Pac-12 home opponents over the past two seasons.
For more, view the full UCLA football Game 8 release HERE.
