UCLA vs. Arizona State Week 5: How to Watch, Game Info, Betting Odds
The first in-division contest is up next for the Bruins, and it comes against the co-favorite to emerge from the Pac-12 South.
WHO: UCLA vs. Arizona State
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 2
TIME: 7:30 p.m. PT
LOCATION: Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA
TV: FOX – Chris Meyers (play-by-play), Mark Helfrich (analyst)
STREAMING: fuboTV – Get 7-day Free Trial
RADIO: AM 1150, Sirius Ch. 119, XM Ch. 197, SXM App 959 – Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Matt Stevens (analyst), Wayne Cook (sideline reporter)
SPREAD: UCLA -3 (-105), Arizona State +3 (-115)*
MONEY LINE: UCLA (-150), Arizona State (+130)*
OVER/UNDER: O 56 (-110), U 56 (-110)*
UCLA moved up from No. 24 to No. 20 in the latest AP and USA Today Coaches Polls following its win over Stanford. Arizona State received 23 points from the AP and 12 from the coaches, ranking No. 34 and No. 37 in each poll, respectively, after it beat Colorado.
The Bruins have opened their season 3-1, covering the spread in all three of their wins and losing as the odds-on favorite to Fresno State on Sept. 18. Dating back to the start of last season, UCLA is 4-3 at home and also 4-3 against the spread in those games.
Arizona State is 3-1 to start 2021, with their lone loss coming to now-No. 13 BYU in Week 3. Despite the positive win-loss record, the Sun Devils are just 1-3 against the spread
Looking at the over/under, the defensive nature of many of Arizona State's games means it has yet to break a combined 56 points in any of its four contests. UCLA, on the other hand, has seen three of its four games exceed that mark, and the one that didn't ended at 54 points.
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Pac-12 in passer rating, but continues to boost his yards per game and scoring stats. The senior signal-caller has more than five times as many touchdowns – 11 total, nine passing and two rushing – as he does turnovers, with two.
Running back Zach Charbonnet is fresh off his third 100-yard performance in four outings with the Bruins, still sitting at No. 2 in the conference in gross rushing and No. 1 in yards per attempt. Brittain Brown seemingly conceded his starting job to Charbonnet against Stanford in Week 4, but he too still has the sixth-most rushing yards in the conference at 263. Receiver Kyle Philips, in addition to his recent Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week award, leads the conference with five receiving touchdowns and ranks No. 6 with 73.5 yards per game.
Edge rusher Mitchell Agude still leads the nation in forced fumbles with four, defensive lineman Datona Jackson leads UCLA with 2.5 sacks and safety Qwuantrezz Knight leads his team with 4.5 tackles for loss.
UCLA averages 38.9 points per game while allowing 25.2.
Arizona State, while not boasting the same top-25 offense as their opponents, still puts up 32.5 per game and allows just 16.0.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels is now well into his third year as the starter, even if the COVID-shortened 2020 season stood as a speed bump for his production and overall success. Daniels is as accurate as ever this season, improving his 58.3% completion percentage from a year ago to 72.6% this fall.
Still though, Daniels does most of his damage on the ground – he has tossed just two touchdowns compared to three interceptions, and his 808 passing yards rank No. 7 in the Pac-12. Daniels is rushing for 78 sack-adjusted yards per game, living up to his reputation as a successful dual-threat weapon.
When Daniels isn't the one keeping the ball, running backs Rachaad White and Daniyel Ngata are doing their part coming out of the backfield. The duo is averaging 166.5 yards and 2.5 touchdowns from scrimmage per game so far in 2021. By nature of the Sun Devils' affinity to run the ball as part of their new multi-tight end offense, few receivers stand out statistically. White leads the team in receptions and receiving yards, just narrowly beating out the speedy LV Bunkley-Shleton and his 46.5 receiving yards per game with one total touchdown.
Linebacker Darien Butler is the lynchpin of the Arizona State defense, as he leads the team in tackles, sacks, tackles for loss and interceptions. Kyle Soelle and Merlin Robertson have been chipping in with the linebacker corps as well, with former Boise State transfer DeAndre Pierce standing out in the defensive backfield.
The Sun Devils' team numbers against both the pass and the run have been skewed by lower tier teams and ineffective opposing offenses. Allowing 124.3 passing yards and 123.3 rushing yards per game paints Arizona State as a well-rounded, stout defensive opponent, but the 146 passing yards allowed in Week 1 was against an FCS opponent in Southern Utah and the 67 given up to UNLV and Colorado came against teams with inexperienced quarterbacks who have had virtually zero success at the collegiate level.
The Bruins are passing for 234.3 yards per game and rushing for 200.
UCLA owns the all-time head-to-head series with Arizona State 22-14-1, winning three of the last four and each of the last two that went down in the Rose Bowl. Thompson-Robinson has met Daniels and the Sun Devils twice in his career, beating them both times by an average margin of victory of 8.5 points.
Most recently, the Bruins bested the Sun Devils 25-18 in a wire-to-wire win down in Tempe in 2020.
*Odds via BetOnline
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