UCLA's Perfect Start Could Come Down to These Key Aspects

As the Bruins attempt to defend their perfect record at 5-0, there’s a surprisingly good Wisconsin team standing in the way.

Back in the preseason, I can "guesstimate" that very few college football fans would have predicted that a Week 7 game between a UCLA team that went 3-9 the year prior and a sneaky Wisconsin team would have the potential to make waves in the Big Ten. Yet, here we are.

UCLA begins its three-game home stretch against Wisconsin on Saturday, and it’s a matchup that truly could have implications for UCLA’s playoff hopes. A loss wouldn’t kill the Bruins' chances, per se, but it sure would give the Bruins little room for error in the remainder of their schedule.

In a game that will likely be a slower, clock-churning, low-scoring, defense-dominated contest, it could truly take one play to flip this entire game in one team’s direction.

Pressure Could Limit Ty Dieffenbach

We don’t have a very large sample size on Dieffenbach, so it’d be difficult to get a read on what to expect. Against Oregon, he did a good job of keeping the ball out of harm's way. Albeit, he only attempted six passes all game, but he still limited mistakes.

In Dieffenbach’s first start of the season, the Badgers will no doubt bring the pressure. It seems obvious that Wisconsin will stack the box to stop the run, bring the pressure, and force Dieffenbach to win this game for UCLA. All it will take is one play, one turnover, perhaps, from Dieffenbach to shift the momentum in a major way. I could very well foresee this matchup being a game of inches, and one explosive defensive play could be the game-changer.

The key for UCLA will simply be to make sure that Dieffenbach doesn’t have to do too much. The Bruins have built their undefeated record by way of their elite ground game, and that isn’t changing anytime soon. A physical rushing attack matched up with a defense that has found ways to take the ball away has been a proven formula that delivered the Bruins their 5-0 record. There’s no reason to abandon that line of thinking now.

UCLA Will Need an Explosive Offensive Play

In order to give UCLA’s offense some juice, the Bruins will need an explosive play. At first thought, two players came to mind who could realistically give the Bruins that game-changing play.

The first is Wayne Knight. We’ve seen him explode for deep runs all season long, and if he can manage to find a hole in this UCLA offensive line and create a burst of offensive production, it could completely change this game.

The second player has only two receptions all season, but neither has been under 60+ yards. Aidan Mizell has shown he has the ability to take the tops off defenses, and if Dieffenbach can get him the ball, he could be a potential game-changer against the Badgers.