OSU vs. UCLA, 1pm, Reser Stadium (TV on FSN, delayed at 3:30)
Oregon State is looking to bounce back from a hard-fought loss against USC with a home win against Rick Neuheisel's UCLA Bruins-- a team that's currently sitting at 0-4 in Pac-10 play.
Despite the fact that the Bruins are seemingly falling apart in the middle of this 2009 campaign, Neuheisell still maintains hope that his team will somehow turn around their season and qualify for a bowl game-- but they'll have to win four of their final five games to do so. The Bruins haven't tasted a victory since mid-September.
The strength of this UCLA team is their defense, with NFL-bound DT Brian Kelly leading the charge. UCLA's other stud defensive tackle, Jerzy Siewierski, recently went down with a foot injury. The Bruins are 8th in the conference in stopping the run, but second at stopping the pass.
The Bruin offense has been sub-par to date, as they rank 9th in nearly every offensive category, generally leading only Washington State. UCLA is only averaging 187 yards in the air and 109 on the ground, per game. Like almost every team who struggles on offense, the Bruins are having issues finding a starting quarterback Rumor has it that both redshirt freshman Kevin Prince and true freshman Richard Brehaut will split time in today's game.
Game-time is set for 1p.m. in Corvallis. The game will be tape delayed on FSN starting at 3:30.
--Jake (jake.buildingthedam@gmail.com)