What to watch for when UCLA plays Arizona. Will Zach Charbonnet play?
In the surest sign of UCLA’s arrival under Chip Kelly, the team’s fans have gone from scanning the schedule for possible wins to probable ones.
Saturday qualifies as the latter.
Arizona is on the rise under second-year coach Jedd Fisch and might be good some day, but that time is not now. The Wildcats’ mix of elite passing offense and dreadful defense has resulted in a four-game losing streak that essentially eliminated them from bowl contention.
To be fair, those losses came to a murderer’s row of Oregon, Washington, USC and Utah — and Arizona was competitive against the Huskies and Trojans. No. 9 UCLA (8-1 overall, 5-1 Pac-12) will be the fourth team ranked No. 12 or higher in the Associated Press rankings that the Wildcats (3-6, 1-5) will have faced in their last five games, making them the first Pac-12 team to complete such a brutal stretch since Washington in 2012.
Just like old times?
UCLA is 8-1 for the first time since 2005. That season, Arizona stunned the 8-0 Bruins in Tucson to deliver their first loss, a 52-14 shellacking that led to a “UCLA Ruins” headline in The Times.
Beating UCLA on Saturday would be even more stunning given that the game is in Pasadena and the Wildcats have allowed at least 45 points and more than 450 yards of offense in each of their last four games, including three games of giving up at least 580 yards.
A UCLA victory would give the Bruins nine wins in a season for the first time under Kelly while nudging his overall record at the school (26-26) over .500 for the first time.
Roll call
There will be extra reason to watch warmups.
Running back Zach Charbonnet’s status remains unknown after he sat out the Bruins’ victory over Arizona State last weekend with an unspecified injury. Defensive coordinator Bill McGovern has missed the last two games with an undisclosed illness.
Charbonnet practiced this week, but the team has not elaborated on his availability. McGovern attended practices as well, but it was not clear whether he was expected to be in the press box at the Rose Bowl.
Fortunately for the Bruins, their running game should pile up yards no matter who is carrying the ball. Arizona’s run defense is ranked No. 125 nationally, allowing 218.7 yards per game on the ground, including three games of 300 or more yards.