Washington vs UCLA (9/30/22): Odds, Picks, Predictions

Washington visits UCLA in the Rose Bowl after climbing to the #15 ranked team in the country after an easy win against Stanford. UCLA is also coming off an easy win as well against Colorado. These teams are very similar so this should be an interesting matchup. Let’s take a look at the odds and make some picks and predictions for this game!

Washington vs. UCLA Odds

Washington opens as a 3.5-point favorite and at -155 on the money line. The over/under is a very high number at 65.5. Washington being slightly favored makes a lot of sense because of how impressive they’ve looked so far. They also have the best win of the two teams against Michigan State, pretty convincingly. UCLA’s still a bit of a mystery so far, and has looked more inconsistent, especially with such a close win against a team like South Alabama a few weeks ago. The total, however, makes a ton of sense even though it’s very high. Both of these teams average over 40 points and over 500 yards a game, so look for a shootout in Los Angeles.

Washington vs. UCLA Prediction & Pick

This game will be a big shootout, but I like the Huskies more here. The Huskies have taken the ball and ran with it when they hired Kale DeBoer. The offense has gotten a much needed jumpstart after last year. The biggest reason to like Washington in this spot and even more so throughout the year is because of their quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., who transferred from Indiana. He’s the leading passer in not just the Pac-12, but also the entire country as well. He reunited with DeBoer and it’s done wonders so far this season.

There’s a lot to like with UCLA too, especially with Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Zach Charbonnet back in the backfield for the Bruins. This will be a close game because both defenses haven’t been tested a lot just yet too, aside from Washington against Michigan State, where they looked very good. Both of these defenses are going to be tested all game, and based on what we’ve seen from the Husky defense it seems like a slightly better bet than the Bruin defense. The Washington offense and Michael Penix Jr. are the reason to take the Huskies here, don’t overthink it.

Washington vs. UCLA Key Matchups

Will this UCLA secondary be able to slow down the University of Washington passing attack led by Michael Penix Jr? What will the Washington secondary do to keep UCLA QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson at bay? Check out the key matchups for Washington vs UCLA below.

Michael Penix Jr. vs the UCLA Passing Defense

No team has been able to slow down Michael Penix Jr. yet. He’s the country’s leading passer at 1,388 yards and he also has 12 passing touchdowns and one interception, while having a 64% completion percentage.

The UCLA defense has not been tested quite like this so far, with the most amount of passing yards they have given up so far being 258 to Colorado. I don’t know if the Bruins have an answer for Penix on defense, especially with how good he’s been up to this point. Another stat that doesn’t go in the Bruins favor on defense is the fact that they only have 3 interceptions on the year, which won’t cut it against Washington. This matchup will go a long way in deciding the game.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson vs the Washington Passing Defense

The quarterbacks are the keys to this game in particular. Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been very good so far this year, with 896 yards passing and eight touchdown passes and one interception, while also having a completion percentage of 75%.

The Husky passing defense, on the other hand has been tested so far only once with Michigan State throwing for 323 yards against them, but most of those yards came when the game was already out of hand. The Husky defense also has five interceptions on the year, which says they might have some issues with Thompson-Robinson in this game because of how accurate he’s been. Still, the Washington passing defense might be a little more trustworthy as compared to their counterparts in this game for UCLA. This matchup will also have a big part to play in who wins this game on Friday.