For my money, the biggest game in the Big Ten takes place in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday as the Ducks are set to host the upstart UCLA Bruins in a game that could produce plenty of fireworks. UCLA has adapted to the Big Ten nicely, and Bob Chesney's team is certainly a force to be reckoned with — having covered the spread in each of their first four contests. The Bruins also have a lot of players from last season's James Madison side on the roster, and seeing as that team just played in Autzen Stadium in the first round of last season's College Football Playoff, I don't expect them to be intimidated by the environment. On the other side, the Ducks are among the best teams in the nation and appear to have righted the ship following a dispiriting loss to Oklahoma State in Week 2. Both teams are trending upward, so I'll focus on the total instead of a side in this one.
On paper, there should be advantages for both offenses in this game — particularly in the case of the hosts. Oregon will be going with Dylan Raiola at quarterback and the former Nebraska product looked extremely comfortable in his first real action in Ducks uniform, finishing 19-of-25 for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns after stepping in for the injured Dante Moore against USC. Raiola could look even better this week after having a bye week to build even more rapport with the rest of the offense, a unit that is among the best in the nation in red zone conversion percentage (85% touchdown rate). The Ducks should see plenty of success against a UCLA defense that has faced a very poor strength of schedule to this point, and did struggle in games against California and Purdue. On the other side, the Oregon defense hasn't been great against the run, and this is something UCLA should be able to exploit with Wayne Knight (9.1 yards per carry and 9 TDs) and a healthy stable of running backs, plus using the legs of quarterback Nico Iamaleava. These teams are a combined 7-1 to the over this season, so let's follow that trend on Saturday.
UCLA vs Oregon prediction: Over 57.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to 58.5
