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Welcome to the Hotline's predictions for each Pac-12 game of the 2022 season. The 12-part series will be published in six installments, with teams grouped by travel partners. Links to prior articles at bottom …
UCLA Bruins
Coach: Chip Kelly (fifth season)
Offensive coordinator: Kelly
Defensive coordinator: Bill McGovern (first season)
2021 record: 8-4/6-3
UCLA's five-year win totals: 4-6-3-4-8 (2020 season excluded)
Last postseason appearance: 2021 Holiday Bowl (canceled)
Best-case 2022 scenario: 10-2
Worst-case 2022 scenario: 6-6
Projected starting quarterback: Dorian Thompson-Robinson
Key question: Will a favorable schedule, which includes three non-conference cupcakes and eight home games, translate to a breakthrough season under Chip Kelly?
Here we go …
Sept. 3: vs. Bowling Green
Result: win
Record: 1-0
Comment: The Falcons return most of their starting lineup from a team that went 4-8 but beat Minnesota. So this could be close … for a half.
Sept. 10: vs. Alabama State
Result: win
Record: 2-0
Comment: First game in school history against a Historically Black College and University. It replaces Michigan, which three years ago canceled a home-and-home series with the Bruins that was scheduled for 2022-23.
Sept. 17: vs. South Alabama
Result: win
Record: 3-0
Comment: Zzzzzzzzz. (We have no further comment.)
Sept. 24: at Colorado
Result: win
Record: 4-0/1-0
Comment: By the time UCLA plays its first Power Five opponent, the Buffaloes will be facing their third. The fresher team is also the better team.
Sept. 30 (Friday): vs. Washington
Result: win
Record: 5-0/2-0
Comment: The Bruins chugged for 237 yards on the ground last year in Seattle — one of eight games in which they topped the 200-yard mark.
Oct. 8: vs. Utah
Result: win
Record: 6-0/3-0
Comment: UCLA is one of the few teams in the conference equipped to handle Utah at the line of scrimmage (both sides). But victory hinges on Dorian Thompson-Robinson playing like the ninth-year senior he is.
Oct. 15: idle
Comment: No competitive advantage heading to Eugene. The Ducks are also shut down in Week Seven.
Oct. 22: at Oregon
Result: loss
Record: 6-1/3-1
Comment: We have this matchup on our short list of potential Pac-12 games of the year. If the outcome isn't in doubt with five minutes left, the Hotline will own our misread without hesitation or complaint.
Oct. 29: vs. Stanford
Result: win
Record: 7-1/4-1
Comment: The last time UCLA beat Stanford in the Rose Bowl, Chip Kelly was Oregon's offensive coordinator. Think about that for a minute.
Nov. 5: at Arizona State
Result: loss
Record: 7-2/4-2
Comment: The pivotal game as UCLA pursues its first 10-win season since 2014. We pondered for at least 45 seconds, tossed a handful of pasta at the nearest wall, then called it a loss.
Nov. 12: vs. Arizona
Result: win
Record: 8-2/5-2
Comment: Obvious trap situation for the Bruins, except Arizona will be bruised and battered after a visit to Utah.
Nov. 19: vs. USC
Result: loss
Record: 8-3/5-3
Comment: Has the potential to be the most meaningful crosstown showdown in years, which is actually saying very little given the stretches of irrelevance for both programs.
Nov. 25 (Friday): at Cal
Result: win
Record: 9-3/6-3
Comment: Here's hoping the schools find a way to play each year when the Bruins are in the Big Ten. Regional rivalries are essential to college football and, objectively speaking, UCLA will need to play as many non-conference games in California as possible.
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Jon Wilner has been covering college sports for decades and is an AP Top 25 football and basketball voter as well as a Heisman Trophy voter. He was named Beat Writer of the Year in 2013 by the Football Writers Association of America for his coverage of the Pac-12, won first place for feature writing in 2016 in the Associated Press Sports Editors writing contest and is a five-time APSE honoree. You can follow him on Twitter @WilnerHotline or send an email at jwilner@bayareanewsgroup.com.
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