Originally Posted by
rjt721
3* UCLA -6.5: This line would have been more accurate had this game been played last year. As is, BYU is getting too much respect here based on their outstanding ’06 season. The problem is that this is a completely different BYU squad, particularly on the offensive side of the ball where, excluding the offensive line, which is still quite good, they lost virtually every key member at the skill positions. Cougars QB Max Hall looked impressive in his first college start against a solid Arizona defense, but asking him to perform well in his first start on the road against the Bruins’ ultra-athletic front seven, by far the best defense BYU will encounter this season, is an entirely different matter.
On the flip side, BYU’s defense, the strength of the team, will face a far steeper challenge against the Bruins than AU’s inept offense posed last week. Ben Olsen was extremely sharp against Stanford, completing 16/29 for 286 and 5 scores. Granted, Stanford is far from a power in the Pac 10, but all indications throughout spring practice and leading up to this season were that Olsen was finally poised to live up to his vast potential, and he did nothing to discredit that notion against the Cardinal.
I expect BYU to be a solid team in conference play, one that improves as the season progresses and Hall gets more experience. However, asking them to stay within a TD in the Rose Bowl against a UCLA squad with aspirations of dethroning USC and Cal in the Pac 10 is too much to ask. BYU keeps this one close early, but the Bruins pull away in the second half and win by double digits.