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Bruins entering the Rose Bowl before doing battle. Photo courtesy of dailybruin.com

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA) – BRUIN FOOTBALL

First Season: 1919

All-Time Record: 612-433-37

All-Time Bowl Record: 16-19-1

Conference Championships: 17

National Championships: One, in 1954

Heisman Trophy Winners: One – Gary Beban in 1967

First Game/First Home Game: Hawai’i at the Rose Bowl, Saturday, August 28, 2021, 12:30 p.m.

Chip Kelly, who’s entering his fourth year as the head coach in Westwood – and whose seat will grow white hot if his Bruins have their sixth straight losing season. Photo courtesy of yahoo.com


UCLA defensive backs putting in work. Photo courtesy of dailybruin.com

OK, here’s how I see this season’s Bruin contests unfolding…

There is one “gimme” game on this year’s schedule, the game in which UCLA will be a crystal clear favorite;

The game in which if UCLA loses, a cancellation of the rest of the season should be considered:

Arizona in Tucson on October 9th.

Those Wildcats were winless last year, got pummeled by Arizona State like Mini-Me fighting Mike Tyson in his prime by a 70-7 score, and are in a complete rebuilding mode with a new coach and a prognosis of having a good 2021 season being pretty much non existent.

Of course the way the Bruins have been these past five years, well…

Let’s put it like this: Though I’m confident of a UCLA victory over U of A, I’m not willing to bet any money on it.

Right after that Arizona game will be what I call a “Death March”,

  • Washington in Seattle on October 16th
  • Oregon on October 23rd – which happens to be Homecoming – and…
  • Utah in Salt Lake City on October 30th

Being that Oregon is nearly everyone’s pick to win the Pac-12, Washington is picked to be Oregon’s main competition in the Pac-12 North, and Utah has always beaten the Bruins up in Rice-Eccles Stadium (does anyone remember the last time UCLA won in Salt Lake? I certainly don’t),

My answer to the question, “Do the Bruins have a good chance to win those three games?” is,

No, no, and no.

Of course as a UCLA alum and a member of Bruin Nation, I hope I’m wrong.

But to be honest, I don’t think I will be; we will see.

I see Colorado on November 13th and California on Thanksgiving Weekend as winnable games.

With Fresno State, Stanford and Arizona State being toss-ups on various levels;

I feel the Bruins have a better chance vs the Bulldogs and their Red Wave fanatics from the Central Valley and what will be a good Sun Devil team at home than vs Stanford in Palo Alto.

But again, we’ll see.

The two contests that will tell me more or less everything I need to know about how this season will go will be the first two…

  • Hawai’i on August 28th – THIS Saturday!
  • LSU on September 4th

If the Bruins can convincingly beat Hawai’i and score what would be an upset over LSU and the 25,000 to 30,000 purple-clad Tiger fans that will invade the Rose Bowl that Labor Day weekend, I’ll be feeling really good about UCLA’s prospects for the following ten games.

If they barely beat those Rainbow Warriors from Oahu (or even, GOD FORBID, lose to them!) and lose to those Bayou Tigers from Baton Rouge, these will be my precise thoughts…

“Here we go again!”

I will find myself looking forward to the gymnastics, baseball and softball seasons for the sixth year in a row.

As well as basketball season, due to that incredible Final Four run they had last Spring.

And I’ll be looking forward to the search for a new head football coach.

I know, I know – what about USC?

As is my personal tradition that I’ve had for the duration of this blog,

I do not and will not make any prognostications of the Bruins’ Crosstown Rivalry Clash with the Trojans at the Coliseum until Thursday, November 18th;

Which is two days before that 91st meeting of the two biggest colleges in L.A. kicks off.

So sorry fellow Bruin Nation members, you’ll have to check out this blog on November 18th.

As such,

Here is my answer to the question: “Will UCLA have a winning season and earn a trip to a bowl game?”

YES.

I’m choosing to be an moderate optimist; here’s how I see the Bruins faring…

  • SIX OR SEVEN WINS – eight if everything goes perfectly
  • A middle of the Pac-12 South finish, either third or fourth
  • A berth – and a win – in one of those December bowl games; many are predicting that the Bruins will be in the new L.A. Bowl at the new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, and…
  • A final ranking between 22nd and 25th – again, if everything goes UCLA’s way

Those four goals are what I am demanding from my alma mater’s football team this season.

Anything short of this, and I will have a post on this blog with these messages:

“FIRE CHIP KELLY!”

“CHIP’S GOTTA GO!”

As a Bruin, I honestly hope I don’t have to write those six words.

But make no mistake about it,

One word describes UCLA Football in 2021 as Kelly begins his fourth season in Westwood:

CRUCIAL.

I think my fellow Bruin alums and fans will have to agree with me on that.

Hopefully Bruin Nation will be able to see tons of celebrations like this, particularly at the end of games. Photo courtesy of dailybruin.com