The California Golden Bears travel to the Rose Bowl Thursday night to face the UCLA Bruins in a huge Pac-12 matchup. The Golden Bears are looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season to Utah on Oct. 10. The Bruins have lost two straight games after starting 4-0 and will look to turn their season around Thursday night.
California is led by junior quarterback Jared Goff, who is considered one of the top prospects in college football. Goff has thrown for 1,970 yards this season with 17 touchdowns but is coming off his worst performance of the season. Against the Utes, Goff threw five interceptions but was still able to keep his team in the game, eventually losing 30-24. Except for one game, the junior quarterback has thrown for more than 300 yards every game and has NFL executives comparing him to Matt Ryan. Goff will need to have a big game for the Golden Bears if they want to get out of Pasadena with a win.
Goff will look for top target Kenny Lawler to make an impact on Thursday night. The junior wide receiver has 465 receiving yards this season with eight touchdowns. Against Utah, Lawler struggled to make a big play and was held to just 66 yards on seven receptions. Cal head coach Sonny Dykes has had more than a week to correct the problems against Utah and will look for his team to improve on its record against the Bruins.
UCLA head coach Jim Mora will probably get running back Paul Perkins touches early Thursday night. Perkins is the team's leading rusher with 681 yards and eight touchdowns. Last Thursday against Stanford, Perkins rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown, but the Bruins still lost 56-35. The Bruins will look to control time of possession, as they will want to keep the ball out of Goff's hands.
Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen will look to lead the Bruins over the Golden Bears Thursday night. Rosen has stepped up as a freshman and has thrown for 1,569 yards with 12 touchdowns. Rosen threw two interceptions in the loss to Stanford last week and will need to be careful with the ball against California. He should not try to match Goff's production Thursday, as the Bruins do not want to find themselves in a shootout.
This game could have huge implications for both teams in the Pac-12, and California is only a game behind Stanford in the North Division. Another loss for either of these teams could end their chances at a Pac-12 championship game, and both coaches are aware of this. The game starts at 9 p.m. EDT, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Golden Bears' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Bruins' radio broadcast, go here.