A battle of former NFL head coaches.
A face-off between two highly-rated dual-threat quarterbacks looking to make the leap to the pros.
The top-two teams in the Pac-12 South.
This marks the third matchup of Chip Kelly and Dorian Thompson-Robinson vs. Herm Edwards and Jayden Daniels, and history is squarely on the Bruins' side in this one.
No. 20 UCLA football (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) has beaten Arizona State (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) in their past two head-to-head matchups, with both teams boasting similar cores and coaching staffs to the past couple seasons. The Bruins and Sun Devils will meet again Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, and should the home team win, it would be their first time winning three straight against their opponent since 2000 to 2003.
Thompson-Robinson is 2-0 with a 159.2 passer rating, four total touchdowns and zero interceptions in his career against Arizona State. Even with all that success, he said he expects to face a bit of a different defensive look this time around with more single-wide and man-to-man sets.
The quarterback on the other side of the ball, Daniels, therefore boasts an 0-2 record against UCLA in his career. Kelly and the Bruin defense won't be resting on their laurels just because they've beaten him twice before, though.
"We need to start from scratch," Kelly said.
Kelly compared Daniels' ability to improvise and break off big plays to a few Pro Bowl NFL quarterbacks, saying it is a big part of what makes him so dangerous and difficult to contain.
"A lot like some of those great quarterbacks at the next level – the Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilsons of the world, the Lamar Jacksons – it's the unscheduled ones that can really hurt you," Kelly said. "That's where he is at his best, cause he is such a quality athlete that you gotta make sure you know where he is all the time."
UCLA is tied for No. 41 in the country with 11.0 sacks and tied for No. 54 in the country with 6.5 tackles for loss per game. Daniels is among the best in the nation in avoiding sacks, however, and he ranks inside the top-30 with 1.25 per game.
The Bruins' pass rush will have to chase down the fastest, most elusive quarterback they've faced all season, and linebacker Carl Jones said it call all be taken care of with attention to detail and adherence to the game plan.
"Honestly, it’s just go-go-go," Jones said. "We’ve just got to close the gaps, do our assignments, continue to do our plays within, so we’ve just got to do our job and everything will be fine."
Arizona State is running the ball 12 more times than it passes on average, and it isn't just Daniels who's been getting touches. Running backs Rachaad White – a former UCLA commit – and Daniyel Ngata both have over 200 yards rushing through four games, and they're averaging a combined 166.5 scrimmage yards per game.
"They’ve got two solid running backs and I think Herm’s made a decision to run the ball," Kelly said. "It’s a conscious effort that they’re going to try to run the ball and that’s going to be a real test for our front seven."
On the other side of the ball, the defense Thompson-Robinson and company will be going against is allowing the fifth-fewest passing yards in the country at 124.2 per game and roughly the same output from opposing rushing attacks.
The offenses the Sun Devils have faced – namely FCS Southern Utah, UNLV and Colorado – aren't putting up anywhere close to the 434.3 yards and 38.5 points per game the Bruins are. Running backs Zach Charbonnet and Brittain Brown have 97 more yards from scrimmage than their opposing duo on three fewer touches, and receiver Kyle Philips and tight end Greg Dulcich are among the top weapons in the Pac-12 as well.
UCLA and Arizona State will kick off at 7:30 p.m., much to Kelly's dismay, apparently.
The Bruins' coach has been talking about his preference for afternoon college football regularly over the past few weeks. Both this week against the Sun Devils and next week against the Wildcats, his team will be playing outside of the primetime window on the East Coast.
Kelly said back in his days with the Philadelphia Eagles, he couldn't stay up late enough to watch Pac-12 After Dark games like the one UCLA and Arizona State are playing this weekend.
"I had friends coaching in games when I was in the NFL, I never watched a 10:30 East Coast Pac-12 game," Kelly said. "I love football, and I didn't stay up and watch it."
Kelly's players said it makes no difference to them, so each and every Bruin will be fired up and ready to go come kickoff Saturday night.
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