UCLA Vs. Arizona: Bruins Defense Needs Stops, Offense Needs Points Against Wildcats

Looking ahead, what will be the big keys to victory for UCLA to beat Arizona?

Ryan Rosenblatt, Bruins Nation: This is tough because the status of Matt Scott is still up in the air, but regardless, Aaron Hester and Sheldon Price have to be good. The Cats lead the conference in pass offense and the Bruins have struggled in the backfield so Hester and Price need to step up. Tevin McDonald also has to be better because he's had a quietly disappointing season. If the Bruins are good in the defensive backfield, I think all will be well, but that is a major, major, major if.

gbruin, Bruins Nation: The Bruins' defense needs to be much tighter. Our offense has shown it can move the ball and score a lot of points, and UofA is giving up about 31 ppg, so I think the Bruins will put a pretty big number up on that side. The key will be slowing down the Wildcats' potent offense, and in particular, their passing game. Pass defense has been the Bruins' biggest vulnerability this season, and UofA is averaging over 350 ypg in the air. Specifically, the Bruins corners will really need to play well and slow down the UofA receivers. If the secondary can play well enough to take away the first option or two, the Bruins have a good pass rush which can get to the QB.

Punting Is Winning: Score a lot. Believe me; we have no shot of stopping the black Kelly Slater. Even when Matt Scott was a nobody, he still ran roughshod over us during the 2010 season. Therefore, following my famous weekend bar hopping motto, we need to score fast and we need to score often.

If you had to make a prediction for how the UCLA-Arizona game will unfold, what do you see happening?

Ryan Rosenblatt, Bruins Nation: The Bruins are usually strong at home so I'm feeling good and if Scott doesn't play, I feel much better about the UCLA defensive backfield. Hundley's confidence should be sky high and the Bruin linebackers are playing better so there is even more reason to be optimistic. Still, UCLA will shutoff for a portion of the game and penalties will hurt them, making it a close game. Add in that Arizona is a good team and it gets really dicey, but I'm all in on Hundley, even late now so Bruins win by four.

gbruin, Bruins Nation: Both teams can be very explosive, so either team can run away with this if the other isn't on top of its game. If both teams play close to their capabilities, then this looks to be a real shootout. If we see the Bruins team that learned from its mistakes at Cal and then stood up to some adversity and finished strong at ASU, then I like our chances at home, and UofA hasn't won on the road yet this year. U.C.L.A. 41, UofA 34.

Punting Is Winning: Following my second weekend bar hopping motto, I plead the fifth.