Arizona vs. UCLA Cliff Notes

Your quick hits on the Bruins

The Arizona Wildcats face the UCLA Bruins on Saturday night at 7:30 PM PT on ESPN. You’ve seen plenty of previews, but here are some quick hits from a slightly different angle.

“Rosen Throws Darts“

Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen was the 2015 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Year who already has eight 300-yard passing games under his belt. Rosen capped a strong collegiate debut season when he threw for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the Foster Farms Bowl loss to Nebraska. Plus he also had a hottub in his freshman dorm room and hosted a UA date it in after last year’s blowout win in Tucson.

This year he lives in an apartment with his frat brothers, throws darts, and admits to a “superiority complex” in this great profile. He may eventually be the 2018 No. 1 pick in the NFL draft; the Bruins’ first top overall selection since Troy Aikman.

Rosen averages 291 yards passing per game this season with three of his four interceptions coming in week one against Texas A&M. Last week he was a pedestrian 18-of-27 for 248 yards with a key fumble on the last play of the game that was returned for a Cardinal touchdown. The last minute score allowed Stanford to cover the point spread.

The Last 42

Junior linebacker Kenny Young will be the last Bruin to wear No. 42 as it will be retired in all UCLA sports to honor Jackie Robinson. Young has 15 tackles on the year, two sacks, and is proud of the No. 42 history.

Robinson wore No. 28 on the football field at UCLA and led the nation with an 18.76 punt return average during his 1939 and 1940 collegiate career (Reggie Bush, in comparison, had a punt return average of 9.9 yards in 2005). In his second and last football season, Robinson posted 383 yards rushing that translated into 5.9 yards per carry. He also threw for 444 yards.

In the football offseason, Robinson led the Pacific Coast Conference in basketball scoring for both the 1940 and 1941 seasons, was named the conference basketball MVP, and won the NCAA individual track broad jump. However, he hit .097 as a shortstop in his only collegiate season in 1940 as it is widely accepted that baseball was his worst sport.

UCLA and Arizona did not play each other in football during Robinson’s time in Westwood.

What’s in the UCLA Scrapbook?

UCLA leads the all-time series against Arizona 23-15-2. In 1927, Southern Branch University formally changed its name to the University of California at Los Angeles, but lost to Arizona 16-13 in the series’ first meeting. At the time of the game, UCLA was known as the Grizzlies. The following year, the school joined the Pacific Coast Conference and adopted the Bruins moniker. This was done to appease fellow conference member, Montana, who claimed themselves as “Grizzlies” first. The UCLA change may have already been in the works because its student newspaper switched from The Daily Grizzly to the Daily Bruin in 1926.

In 1928, the newly branded Bruins tied Arizona 7-7 in the schools’ second game against each other. It would be 43 years until the schools would meet again during which a huge UCLA scandal killed the PCC in 1956 and later opened the door for the creation of the Pacific 10 Conference. The series resumed in 1971 as UCLA beat Arizona 28-12 and the universities began playing each on a regular basis when UA joined the present day conference in 1978.

The Arizona/UCLA football series is the second oldest conference rivalry for the Bruins. Stanford, who beat Southern Branch 82-0 in 1925 in the inaugural tilt, is the oldest series for UCLA with a current Pac-12 Conference foe.

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