Oregon and UCLA will meet for a highly anticipated top-10 matchup on Saturday, Oct. 22 when ESPN’s College GameDay comes to Eugene. Both teams had a bye week in week 7 but managed to climb up in the week 8 AP Poll after USC took a 43-42 loss to Utah. This is UCLA’s first appearance in the top 10 since 2015.
This will be the first game since 2014 that two top-10 teams will play at Autzen Stadium. Former Oregon head coach Chip Kelly will make his return to Eugene as a visiting coach.
Both teams are undefeated and tied for first place in the Pac-12 standings. The Ducks hold a 22-game win streak at home and are looking to give UCLA its first loss this season.
The game will be decided among the performance of the UCLA offense and Oregon defense. The Bruins’ offense has been putting up strong numbers against their opponents in the past few weeks.
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is second in the nation with a 74.8 completion percentage. He also has a career-high 9.3 yards per attempt this season. Against Utah in week 6, Robinson put up 299 yards and completed 18 out of 23 passes. UCLA defeated Utah 42-32.
Running back Zach Charbonnet adds a great complement in the backfield alongside Thompson-Robinson. He has continually been performing for the UCLA offense in the past few games, with a career-high 198 rush yards against Utah. The senior running back is second in the Pac-12 with 615 rushing yards, so he will give the Oregon defense a tough challenge.
Oregon is coming off a commanding win over Arizona 49-22 on the road in week six, where its offense dominated. In that game it collected 580 total yards and running back Noah Whittington led the offense with 92 rushing yards, highlighted by a 55-yard rushing touchdown.
The Ducks’ offense leads the conference in total yardage with 3,075 total yards and 512.5 yards per game. That’s just ahead of UCLA, which has 3,034 total yards and 505.7 yards per game.
Running back Bucky Irving and quarterback Bo Nix will likely be among the top names contributing to Oregon’s offensive success. Irving is No. 6 in the Pac-12 with 429 rushing yards, and Nix is No. 12 with 331.
Oregon has improved its offense since its season opener against Georgia scoring an average of at least 40 points in every game since. The Oregon running game has improved and Nix has been part of that improvement. Against Arizona, Nix ran for three touchdowns on eight carries.
The game will be this Saturday airing on FOX at 12:30 p.m.