UCLA vs. Washington College Football Predictions: Week 5

The All Bruins staff made their picks for how Friday’s game against the Huskies is going to go down.

The first big test of the year has finally arrived for the Bruins, who will go head-to-head with a ranked opponent for the first time in 2022.

UCLA football (4-0) will play No. 15 Washington (4-0) at the Rose Bowl on Friday. The Bruins have won seven games in a row dating back to the end of last season, while the Huskies have won every game under new head coach Kalen DeBoer and enter the matchup as 2.5-point underdogs.

All Bruins is making its picks for who will win, what the score will be and how the game will play out, courtesy of Managing Editor Sam Connon, contributing writer Benjamin Royer and special guest predictor, Inside the Huskies publisher Dan Raley.

Sam Connon, Managing Editor

Prediction: Washington 38, UCLA 34

Friday night's showdown will definitely be an interesting one.

It doesn't seem like the Bruins will get blown out – despite what some of the team's detractors are projecting – since they haven't shown any signs of that kind of performance so far this year. At the same time, the Huskies are far and away the toughest team they've played so far this year, so it isn't as if the blue and gold will be on the winning side of another blowout either.

Washington's offense, led by the nation's leading passer in quarterback Michael Penix Jr., is poised to carve up UCLA's secondary that already looked suspect against South Alabama. The Huskies' pass rush is also one of the most disruptive in the country, which could spell problems for a Bruin offensive line that hasn't exactly looked elite so far this fall.

Those two matchups probably won't go UCLA's way, and that doesn't give them a great chance to pull off the upset.

Still, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has a history of putting up big numbers on national TV and against ranked opponents, and running back Zach Charbonnet rushed for 131 yards against the Huskies in 2021. Thanks to those two, the Bruins will surely put up a lot of points on their end as well, it's just a matter of who can win the West Coast track meet.

Penix's connection with his top-three receivers may be too much to overcome, though, and Thompson-Robinson would have to play a mistake-free game to keep up. That's more likely than it was three years ago thanks to Thompson-Robinson's vast experience as a starter, but if he is under pressure all night long, he may make a mistake regardless.

The winner of this will solidify themselves as a true contender for the Pac-12 title, and the Bruins just haven't looked like that through four weeks. The Huskies, on the other hand, have proven they can win the big games, and that's why they are the favorite to leave with another victory Friday night.

Benjamin Royer, contributing writer

Prediction: Washington 41, UCLA 35

4-0 looks excellent to the neutral observer, and one wouldn't be blamed for assuming that coach Chip Kelly’s roster is ready to defend their home field against the rising Huskies.

However, the Bruins are outmatched in almost every possible category on the football field.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Michael Penix Jr. provide an exciting quarterback matchup, and both are poised to light up the stat sheet with both passing and rushing yards, but when you get past the dynamic offenses, the blue and gold’s defense knocks them a full step back.

UCLA’s secondary just is not prepared for the offense that Washington coach Kalen DeBoer will demonstrate – similarly to last year when the Bruins lost to Fresno State – and the Huskies will likely find it easy to get into the end zone on Friday night.

The Bruins have allowed 18.0 points per game, just one fewer point than the Huskies’ 19.0 per game. Washington has actually played two reputable opponents, defeating Michigan State and Stanford by more than two possessions each.

The 18.0 points allowed per game is deceiving and will get exposed when UCLA struggles to keep Washington off the scoreboard in a Pac-12 After Dark special.

Offensively, the Bruins will keep it close, but battling back takes a two-way effort and UCLA only has one side of the ball figured out.

This is supposed to be the opening “test” Kelly will face as coach this year, but will instead be his first strike of 2022.

Dan Raley, Publisher at Inside the Huskies

Prediction: UCLA 35, Washington 33

On Friday night, Washington will meet UCLA at the Rose Bowl and it’s time to shed a tear. With the Bruins most likely Big Ten-bound, this quite possibly will be the last time these teams face each other in California. Unless, of course, they someday become bowl opponents.

For now, the 76th meeting between these West Coast comrades will not only be nostalgic, but also one last Pac-12 track meet.

The Huskies and Bruins each will trot out quarterbacks who might be unstoppable – first team to 40 wins, OK?

Michael Penix Jr., the Indiana transfer, has helped transform the UW from a run-first team that wasn’t competitive in 2021 to an anything-goes outfit, averaging 40-plus points per game.

Similar to Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Penix is a savvy, strong-armed passer who can run when needed and simply scares the headsets off most defensive coordinators. He has a Big Ten resume that shows off victories over Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, plus a five-touchdown outing at Ohio State in a close loss.

This could be a classic duel. Scrambling. Pinpoint passing. A passel of points.

The difference, however, is Penix will be facing a largely veteran Bruins secondary while DTR might be salivating at the prospect of facing a Husky defensive backfield that has replaced three of its five starters since the season began because on injuries.

The Huskies score at will. They're more physical than before. Their front seven is very active. Yet the secondary is vulnerable, especially to the deep ball, having given up a bunch of TD passes.

Taking that into consideration, I see the Bruins coming out on top in a close one.

Follow Connon on Twitter at @SamConnon
Follow Royer on Twitter at @thebenroyer
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