The Minnesota Golden Gohpers improved to 3-3 this past weekend by upsetting No. 12 USC at Huntington Bank Stadium 24-17. The win snapped a two-game skid for the Gophers and improved their conference record to 1-2 as P.J. Fleck and his program hit the midway point of the season.
This week the Gophers will face the scuffling UCLA Bruins, who after a 27-11 loss to the Penn State Nittany Lions this past weekend are now 1-4 inlcuding 0-3 in Big Ten play.
Gophers Nation takes a ifrst look at the UCLA Bruins below.
GAME BROADCAST DETAILS
Where: Pasadena, California
Stadium: Rose Bowl (89,702)
Time: 8:00 p.m. CT
Television: Big Ten Network
Odds: Minnesota opened as a 5.5-point favorite over UCLA. The over/under is set at 40.5 points.
1. Not a strong start for first year head coach Deshaun Foster
The Deshaun Foster era of UCLA Bruins football has not been a fast one. After picking up a 14-10 win in week one, the Bruins have lost four straight games to Indiana, LSU, Oregon, and Penn State. In the process, the Bruins have not scored more than 17 points in a game. Through five games, they're averaging just 14.0 points per game, ranking 130th out of 134 teams nationally.
Slow starts to new era's in Westwood, however, have become the norm. Since 1996, each of UCLA's last five head coaches have begun their tenures with losing seasons including a 3-9 season for Chip Kelly in 2018.
The bad news for UCLA is the schedule doesn't get easier. They'll face a Gophers team this upcoming weekend playing with a ton of confidence before facing high quality opponents in Nebraska, Iowa, Washington, USC, and Fresno State.
2. Injuries are stacking up
What's not helping UCLA by any means early this season have been injuries. Ahead of this past weekend's matchup between the Bruins and Penn State Nittany Lions nearly 30 Bruins were listed on the injury report.
Among those injuries is quarterback Ethan Garbers who suffered an upper body injury against the Oregon Ducks two weeks ago. After mostly not practicing ahead of the Bruins matchup with Penn State, Garbers sat on Saturday. With Garbers out, the Bruins gave control of the offense to redshirt sophomore quarterback Justyn Martin.
In his first career start, Martin was impressive against a good Penn State defense, completing 22-of-30 passing attempts for 167 yards and one touchdown.
4. First matchup between the programs in nearly 50 years
Saturday's matchup will be the first time in nearly 50 years that the Golden Gophers and Bruins have met on the gridiron. The last time the two teams met was in the 1978 season, a 17-3 win for then UCLA head coach Terry Danahue over Gophers head coach Cal Stoll. The two teams also met in the 1962 Rose Bowl, a 21-3 win for Minnesota and 1977, a 27-13 win for the Gophers.
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