UCLA vs. UNLV gameday predictions

No. 13 UCLA travels to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for its first away game of the 2015 season Saturday night. Here are the predictions from the Bruin Sports senior staff.

Matthew Joye
UCLA 49 – UNLV 13

The Rebels won’t put up much of a fight against the heavily favored Bruins in Vegas; they’re just too young of a team to pull off that big an upset. Nine freshmen saw playing time for UNLV last week in the season opener – a 38-30 loss to Northern Illinois – and the Rebels’ coach was in his first-ever collegiate game. Granted, the Bruins have a true freshman of their own starting at the game’s most important position, but they also have one of the nation’s most experienced units otherwise. Expect a veteran UCLA squad to expose UNLV’s inexperience early and often on Saturday en route to a blowout win.

Claire Fahy
UCLA 36 – UNLV 7

The Bruins were projected to beat the Rebels long before their dominant 36-14 season debut against the Virginia Cavaliers last Saturday. With the strong showing by all position groups at the Rose Bowl, it stands to reason that UCLA will easily handle UNLV in Las Vegas tonight. The defensive line will be under scrutiny after the loss of Eddie Vanderdoes to an ACL injury last weekend, but the depth of that group should mitigate the injury’s impact. If the offensive line can repeat its powerful performance, freshman quarterback Josh Rosen should continue to shine in his second-ever collegiate game, and the Bruins should cruise to victory for the second weekend in a row.

Korbin Placet
UCLA 42 – UNLV 13

During his coaching tenure at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, UNLV coach Tony Sanchez won three consecutive Division I state championships – 2012, 2013 and 2014. Impressed by Sanchez’s high school career and frustrated with another losing season, the Rebel athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy decided to take a chance on a coach with no collegiate experience. That’s right, this is his second collegiate game and his first against a Power Five opponent. He is new to the faster and more complex college game so there may be a lot of hiccups. The Bruins have a lot of veteran starters and are coming off a very impressive win against Virginia, and maybe Rosen will have another big game. Don’t expect this to be a close game.

Matt Cummings
UCLA 52 – UNLV 10

UNLV, a 30-point underdog this week, wasn’t deterred by a similarly large point spread last week against Northern Illinois. As 23-point underdogs, the Rebels jumped out to a 17-3 lead. But the Huskies shifted to a hurry-up offense and posted 545 yards against a thin Rebel defense that crumbled as the game wore on. A much more talented squad than Northern Illinois, UCLA shouldn’t take as long to justify the pregame spread. After Rosen inflates his Heisman hype by carving up a suspect UNLV defense, look for fellow five-star freshman running back Soso Jamabo to excel in a healthy dose of garbage-time touches.

Tanner Walters
UCLA 41 – UNLV 10

The hotels are booked, the fans are ready and the showdown between the overwhelming favorite and the heavy underdog is mere hours away. No, not tonight’s Mayweather fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Nine miles away, Rosen and the Bruins should be showing their own strength against a Rebel team that is simply not good enough. UNLV dropped its season-opener to Northern Illinois in a second-half collapse, and a deep UCLA squad should easily overpower the home team across the whole field.

Compiled by Claire Fahy, Matt Cummings, Matthew Joye, Korbin Placet and Tanner Walters, Bruin Sports senior staff.