UCLA Football Gears Up For Home Matchup With Faltering Arizona

The Bruins will once again be tasked with defending their home turf Saturday, giving them another chance to take down an underdog conference foe.

No. 12 UCLA football (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) will take on Arizona (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) at the Rose Bowl for some more "Pac-12 After Dark" action, entering its third-straight game as a double-digit favorite. Games of that stature haven't been a problem for the Bruins as of late, considering they successfully held off Stanford and Arizona State and have now won 17 in a row against teams that ended the year .500 or worse dating back to the middle of the 2019 campaign.

Arizona will fall into that bucket with one more loss, which seems likely considering their track record over the past few years. The Wildcats are 2-26 against Power Five teams since Week 7 of 2019, and that doesn't even include their nonconference losses to BYU, San Diego State and FCS program Northern Arizona to open 2021.

While Arizona started 2022 with a 3-2 record, their lone Pac-12 win came at home against 1-8 Colorado, and they have lost four in a row since.

Coach Chip Kelly's squad has beaten the Wildcats in back-to-back years, in addition to winning five in a row against them at the Rose Bowl. Still, Kelly isn't ready to overlook quarterback Jayden de Laura and his weapons, who are being led by Arizona coach Jedd Fisch – UCLA's offensive coordinator in 2017 who technically handed the keys to Kelly following a brief stint as interim head coach in Westwood.

"Arizona's really explosive on the offensive side of the ball, that's obviously their strength," Kelly said. "(De Laura)'s a gunslinger, I think he's got a lot of toughness to him. He's gotta run around, he's gotta keep plays alive, he's not afraid of throwing the ball up there. And they've got some receivers that will go get it, so it's really their passing attack that gets the most of your attention."

De Laura is certainly a gunslinger, attempting 137 more passes than UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson so far this season. While that has led to the Washington State transfer throwing for the second-most yards in the conference with 2,813, it has also attributed to the Wildcats turning the ball over more often than any other Pac-12 school outside of Colorado and Stanford – both of whom the Bruins have already bested this season.

Thompson-Robinson, on the other hand, has half as many interceptions as de Laura this year with four, rarely ever giving opposing offenses extra possessions.

The veteran signal-caller has also cut down on the fumbles that haunted him as an underclassman, even amid his more frequent scrambles, runs and hurdles. Whether Arizona deploys a zone defense or a spy to try and limit his dual-threat ability, Thompson-Robinson was confident he'll be able to contribute regardless.

"I know there have been teams in the past that have accounted for me in both the pass and the run game, but I have yet to think it’s worked out well for people," Thompson-Robinson said.

It remains to be seen how much help Thompson-Robinson has on the ground, given how banged up the Bruins' running backs have been over the past week.

Zach Charbonnet, who still leads the Pac-12 in rushing yards and total yards from scrimmage despite missing two of UCLA's nine games, was held out of the team's win over Arizona State a week ago. Charbonnet suited up for practice this week, but his status remains up in the air.

The same can be said for Keegan Jones, TJ Harden and Deshun Murrell, who have all suffered bumps and bruises of their own and have been on and off the practice field as of late. Jones rushed for a career-high 98 yards on 12 attempts versus the Sun Devils, while Harden got one carry for 4 yards.

Even receiver Kazmeir Allen, who moved back to his old position at the last second to lead UCLA with 137 yards against Arizona State, was hobbled for a good chunk of that game.

The only scholarship player outside of those five who could take some carries is quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-running back Colson Yankoff, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound power back who rushed for 48 yards on six carries – in addition to the win-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter – against the Sun Devils.

Regardless of who's out there, UCLA is expected to once again pound the rock. After all, the Bruins racked up 402 rushing yards and 50 total points without Charbonnet in Tempe.

Kelly also moved sixth-year center Sam Marrazzo to tight end during the team's recent bye week, bringing him in as an extra blocker in certain run-based sets. That hasn't stopped Marrazzo from crossing his fingers for an opportunity in the passing game against Arizona, though.

"I've been pestering every coach that will listen to me," Marrazzo said. "I'll get on the jugs, I'll do whatever it takes, I'll run a fade, I'll – whatever it takes to hopefully not drop it, cause that would be awful. The one pass I do get, I drop? No. Yeah, it would be fun, but I'm here to block and do what I'm told."

Marrazzo, Thompson-Robinson and the Bruins will kick off against the Wildcats on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. The final game before UCLA's much-anticipated crosstown rivalry game with USC will be televised on FOX.

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