The Oregon Ducks are 5-0 straight up and 3-2 against the spread in their last five games against the UCLA Bruins. The Ducks hope to continue that dominance over the Bruins this Saturday when the two teams meet at UCLA (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Oregon has won each of the last four games in this head-to-head series by at least two touchdowns. Favored by only three points this week at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com, Oregon should be able to come away with a win over the Bruins.
With a makeshift offensive line protecting Marcus Mariota, Oregon's weakness was exposed on the road against Washington State when the Cougars sacked Mariota seven times and almost came away with an upset, eventually falling 38-31 as a 21.5-point underdog. The Ducks couldn't avoid disaster last Thursday as a 21.5-point home favorite hosting Arizona, falling to 4-1 SU and 1-4 ATS on the season in the 31-24 loss. Oregon is just 1-8 ATS in its last nine regular season games, according to the OddsShark College Football Database.
OddsShark Computer Prediction: Oregon 42, UCLA 31
In getting out to a 3-0 SU and 0-3 ATS start, UCLA walked the line against inferior opponents winning all three of those games by eight points or less. The Bruins looked to have turned a corner after a 62-27 blowout win over ASU, but the celebration of that win was short-lived, as the Bruins fell at home to Utah 30-28 on Saturday as a 13-point favorite. Like Oregon, UCLA has serious issues on the offensive line, as Brett Hundley was sacked 10 times in the loss.
There are plenty of parallels between these two teams. Each is off to a 4-1 SU and 1-4 ATS start, both have star quarterbacks playing behind weak offensive lines, and both are coming off losses at home as a double-digit favorite.
Oregon vs. UCLA should be a very compelling matchup between the two teams that were projected to be the best in the Pac-12 coming into the season. Oregon gets the edge at -3 due to UCLA's history of struggling with the Ducks and their up-tempo offense.