The 12th-ranked UCLA Bruins will look to continue their perfect season this weekend when they take on the red hot Wisconsin Badgers. UCLA is coming off a big 17-15 win over Oregon last weekend. The bad news for the Bruins is they lost quarterback Nico Iamaleava to a potential season-ending injury. Iamaleava went down near halftime and was replaced by Ty Dieffenbach. Dieffenbach finished the game completing 3 of 6 passes for 43 yards and 1 touchdown. While the sample size was low, Dieffenbach still completed the tough task of holding on to the lead on the road at Oregon. Wisconsin has won four straight games with their last two wins coming over Penn State 24-20 and Michigan State 31-3. Quarterback Colton Joseph has helped rejuvenate the Badgers offense after their opening season loss to Notre Dame in week one. Joseph had 4 touchdown passes against Michigan State, and has 10 total touchdowns for the season.
The main question that needs to be answered in this game is what will Dieffenbach look like in his first start for UCLA. He started last season for the Cal Poly Mustangs, where he threw for 1,305 yards, 9 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. This is a big jump to Big Ten football, but Dieffenbach looked solid throwing some catchable footballs in his limited attempts against Oregon. The dynamic will be different starting the game versus coming in halfway through and managing the lead. Good news for Dieffenbach is that he will have one of the best running backs in the Big Ten behind him, Wayne Knight. Knight has ran for 548 yards and 10 touchdowns on only 71 attempts this season. Knight was a big factor against Oregon, running for 103 yards on 22 attempts and one touchdown. Knight was also the receiver on Dieffenbach's one passing touchdown in the 4th quarter. With Knight being the focal point in UCLA's offense, can Wisconsin slow him down? Wisconsin has been impressive against the run this season, only allowing 3.2 yards per carry. In their most recent game, Wisconsin played up to that standard, only allowing Michigan State to run for 127 yards on 45 attempts. In full, the Badgers are only allowing 16.6 points per game this season. On paper, Wisconsin's defense has the ability to cause problems for UCLA's heavy-run offense, making them a live underdog on the road this weekend.
Wisconsin +2.5 is available at the time of publishing. Playable at the ML.
