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After last weekend’s incredible slate of games delivered with some absolute thrillers, it’s going to be hard for week six of the college football season to top it. There aren’t a ton of great matchups this week, and there is in fact only one that features two ranked teams, and it is between Texas A&M and Missouri. The Penn State football team is ranked #7 in the country, but they should have an easy one this weekend as they will be hosting unranked UCLA. The Bruins have struggled a lot this year as they have just one win.
College GameDay goes to the biggest game of the week, but there are typically a couple weeks each season like this one where they try to go to a new place because there aren’t a ton of marquee matchups. Texas A&M-Missouri is definitely the biggest game of the week as it is the only one that features two ranked teams, but College GameDay will be at Cal as the Golden Bears are hosting #8 Miami.
That Cal-Miami game is one notable game in the ACC, and the only other is #15 Clemson hitting the road to take on Florida State. This was supposed to be the most important game of the season in the conference, but the Seminoles are lifeless and 1-4. Still, it will be interesting to see if they can get up for this game.
There isn’t much happening in the Big 12 this week. The conference has a couple top teams on a bye week, but Texas Tech-Arizona should be a good one as both teams only have one loss.
The Big Ten has a few intriguing games this weekend. Perhaps the best is #10 Michigan visiting Washington for a national title game rematch. Iowa-Ohio State will also be an interesting game, and undefeated Rutgers will look to stay perfect as they hit the road to play Nebraska.
Lastly, the SEC has a couple good matchups this weekend. There is obviously this top-25 matchup between Texas A&M and Missouri that we have mentioned, but another good one will be between South Carolina and Ole Miss. The Rebels were upset at home last weekend, so they need this one.
This Penn State-UCLA game is expected to be a blowout, but you never know. The Nittany Lions are coming off of a big ranked win against Illinois last week, so they might come into this one sleepwalking a bit. The Bruins also played LSU pretty tough for awhile on the road during week four. Crazy things happen in college football.
Before we get into our predictions, let’s take a look at where each team is at heading into this game.
So far so good for Penn State football
The Penn State football team is currently ranked #7 in the country and they have picked up a couple nice wins this year. The Nittany Lions are 4-0, and they have beaten West Virginia, Bowling Green, Kent State and Illinois. The West Virginia win was on the road and it was a convincing one, so that was impressive, and their win against Illinois is going to look better and better each week. The Fighting Illini are a good team.
Penn State did struggle a bit when they played Bowling Green. That one was at home, and it was way too close for comfort as it was a three-point game late in the fourth quarter. The Nittany Lions ended up winning 34-27.
If Penn State plays to their full potential this weekend against UCLA, the Bruins have no chance of coming into Beaver Stadium and getting a win.
UCLA has work to do
There's no doubt about it, the UCLA football team has struggled this year. That is to be expected, though. This team has a new head coach, and they have a lot of new players as they lost a good amount of talent from last year's team to the transfer portal. Bruins fans knew a rebuild was coming, but it's obviously not fun to see your team lose week in and week out.
UCLA is currently 1-3, and their lone win came against Hawaii in a close battle. The Bruins have losses against Indiana, #16 LSU and #8 Oregon. Now, they get to play #7 Penn State on the road. Tough start to the year for UCLA.
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One positive that we saw from UCLA was the way they played on the road against LSU. The Tigers are a good team and they have moved up a few spots in the rankings since that game. The Bruins hung tough in that game as it was tied at halftime and they were only down by a touchdown in the fourth quarter. That is something to build on.
This weekend's game will be a tough one for UCLA, however, and they will likely fall to 1-4. Here are three predictions for the matchup:
Drew Allar will throw two touchdown passes
Drew Allar hasn't had a ton of big performances in big games during his career, but he excels in games this these. He should have a lot of time in the pocket to get rid of the ball, and his receivers should be able to create separation against this UCLA defense. The Penn State football team will probably run the ball a lot, but when they do choose to throw, Allar will find success. He will toss a couple touchdown passes on Saturday.
Penn State will rush for over 300 yards
Penn State is going to run the ball down UCLA's throat on Saturday. The Nittany Lions have a good offensive line and multiple talented running backs, and they are going to wear down this Bruins defense. The ground attack will be working, and Penn State is going to rack up a lot of rushing yards.
Penn State will win 42-13
We're going with a final score prediction here. The Penn State football team is going to be too much to handle for UCLA on Saturday, and this one won't be very close as the Nittany Lions will pull away early and cruise to a 42-13 win. Penn State will improve to 5-0 with the victory, and UCLA will fall to 1-4.
Penn State and UCLA will kickoff from Beaver Stadium in State College Pennsylvania at noon ET on Saturday, and the game will be airing on Fox. The Nittany Lions are currently favored by 27.5 points.
