The UCLA Bruins and Alabama State Hornets square off Saturday in week 2 college football action from the Rose Bowl. Alabama State is coming off a matchup versus Miles. In that one, the Hornets managed an eight-point win. As for UCLA, they played Bowling Green in their first game of the 2022 campaign. The Bruins would go on to take a victory in blowout fashion. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Alabama State played Howard in their first game of the 2022 season. The Hornets managed a 23-13 victory in that one. QB Dematrius Davis finished with 184 yards, one TD and one interception. Jacory Merritt led the rushers with 55 yards and a touchdown.
In their first game of 2022 versus Miles, the Hornets bagged another victory. This time it was a 21-13 affair with all Alabama State’s points coming in the first quarter. Myles Crawley threw for 162 yards, one TD and one pick. Ja’Won Howell led the rush with 48 yards from 11 carries.
Over on the UCLA side, they managed an 8-4 record in 2021, going 6-3 in Pac-12 play. The Bruins landed in second place in the South Division, behind only Utah at 8-1. UCLA was scheduled to play in the Holiday Bowl versus NC State but had to withdraw due to virus issues.
Matched up against Bowling Green in Week 1, the Bruins scored in every quarter along the way to a 45-17 blowout victory. QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson managed 298 yards with two scores and a pick on 32-of-43 passing while also rushing for 87 yards and two more scores.
PICK: I’m likely going to stick with UCLA but I’m not going near it. The line is probably too thick to mess with. The Bruins were quite impressive on both sides of the ball versus Bowling Green, notching 626 total yards, 30 first downs, 6.8 yards per play and a 12-of-22 run on third- and fourth-down tries. UCLA has a couple of things to clean up however, namely the nine penalties and two turnovers.
As for Alabama State, they’re sitting at a shaky 2-0 (if there is such a thing) and didn’t exactly overpower Miles in their last outing. I don’t expect the Hornets to stay in range for long here.