UCLA Bruins vs Washington Huskies Preview and Vegas Prediction

The #12 ranked Washington Huskies return to action after a bye week and their first loss of the season. They host the UCLA Bruins in a must win game for the Huskies, if they want to keep pace for the Pac-12 North with WSU and Stanford. Kickoff inside Husky Stadium is at 3:30 PM ET.

Vegas Betting Lines and Preview: UCLA Bruins vs Washington Huskies

Since 2003, UCLA has an 8-2 record against the Huskies, including winning at Husky Stadium in 2014. However, these two teams haven’t played since then, which means that UCLA has not faced this elite conference defense as of yet.

The UCLA Bruins (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12) are still looking for their first road win of the season. Unfortunately, they won’t be getting it this weekend. UCLA has struggled on the road, especially in Pac-12 play where they’ve given up 105 points in 2 games. They also have one of the worst defenses in the conference. It will be exciting to see Rosen go up against the Huskies defense, but I don’t expect much success in Seattle this weekend for the Bruins.

Washington (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) has had 2 weeks to stew over their loss to Arizona State. It seems that the Huskies have bad luck in Tempe, AZ, as they’ve lost their last 7 trips there. So, I’m going to chalk up that loss to Tempe being Washington’s kryptonite and that they will definitely be on track this weekend at home against UCLA.

The spread opened with Washington a 17 point favorite. It has gone up slightly to 17.5 points. The Over/Under opened at 61 points and has come down to 59.5 total points.

Pac-12 Prediction and Free Spread Pick: Washington Huskies -17.5

Coming into this game, the buzz is centered on the quarterback duel between UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Washington’s Jake Browning. But, the real key to this game will be the Washington defense. And, I expect them to be as dominant as they have been all season.

Washington has the #2 ranked defense in yards allowed at 236.9 yards per game. They’re #3 in the country for scoring defense at 10.6 ppg, #2 against the run at just 73 ypg, and #6 against the pass with 163.9 ypg. Even in their loss to Arizona State, Washington only gave up 285 total yards and 13 points, despite their offense doing absolutely nothing that game.

In conference play, Washington is only giving up 9.25 ppg. And, that includes losing to AZ State. So, you can see why I believe this elite defense will keep Rosen and UCLA’s offense in check.

Offensively, Washington has capable playmakers in Browning and running back Myles Gaskin. Unfortunately, they both struggled on the road in Tempe and were unable to pull the game out for their team. This week, at home, I see Gaskins having a huge game against UCLA. The Bruins have one of the worst defenses in the conference and the nation. They have the worst rush defense in the country, giving up 303 rushing yards per game. Gaskins has to be thinking this is an early Thanksgiving present as he will be feasting on UCLA Saturday.

With the run game going strong, Browning will just have to manage the game. And, that’s something he’s very efficient at.

For the Bruins, their team begins and ends with Josh Rosen who is #2 in the nation with 2,620 passing yards. The UCLA offense averages 510 total yards per game, which is 9th in the nation. Their passing attack, led by Rosen, is 3rd in the nation just behind the two Oklahoma schools. I believe Rosen will get some yards this game, but he will fail to score many points on this Washington defense and that will be the difference in the game.

UCLA is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games, 2-9 ATS in their last 11 road games, 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games as an Underdog, and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games following a conference win. Washington is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games.

I expect this Washington defense to come out and make Rosen’s life miserable for 3 quarters. Once they build up a huge lead, then they will put it in cruise control, which will allow Rosen to get garbage time points and yards. Gaskin will have a big game against UCLA. I see him getting over 150 yards and at least 1 score on the ground this week. In fact, he could surpass his season high of 202 against Colorado. Browning will do enough to keep UCLA from stacking the box and Washington should win this game easily: Huskies 38 – Bruins 17.

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