To close out Week 3 of the college football season, let's head to the Rose Bowl for a showdown between Purdue and UCLA. The Bruins are a team that I've been very excited to back this season and Bob Chesney's group has hit the ground running in his first season in the Big Ten, winning each of their first two games by double digits behind a pair of excellent showings in the fourth quarter. The Bruins have all the makings of an eight or nine win team in Chesney's first year, and the market has reacted accordingly — pushing UCLA out to a favorite of over two touchdowns in its first Big Ten conference game of the campaign. However, while I'm very high on this team long term and will continue to bet them throughout the season, this is a spot where I'll be fading the steam and going against the Bruins this week.
Purdue has been toiling in the depths of the Big Ten in recent years, but the Boilermakers finally showed a real pulse against a decent opponent last week. Barry Odom's team really should've pulled off an upset victory at home against Wake Forest, but the Boilermakers failed to get a stop on 4th and long in overtime and that led to a Demon Deacons touchdown to force double overtime — which ultimately resulted in a 38-36 win for the visitors. It was a tough result for Purdue, but it showed real promise of a team that has finally come around offensively. While we can't expect the Boilermakers to tally over 500 yards of offense this week, Ryan Browne and company should be able to move the ball on a UCLA defense that allowed over 400 yards to the only quarterback its played with a pulse this season. While the Purdue defense is still a work in progress of its own and we can expect Nico Iamaleava, Wayne Knight and company to put up points, this has all the makings of a comfortable, but not dominant UCLA win.
Purdue vs UCLA prediction: Purdue +14.5 (-115) available at time of publishing. Playable to Purdue +14.
