UCLA’s roller coaster season is on the downswing again and the Bruins picked quite the time and place to try ending another losing streak.
No. 1 Ohio State (9-0, 6-0 Big Ten) has been relentless in pursuit of back-to-back national championships and hits the home stretch of the regular season mindful of its form against the erratic Bruins (3-6, 3-3 Big Ten) in Columbus on Saturday.
The Buckeyes maintained their hold of the Big Ten and the No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings released Tuesday. Ohio State’s resume is even better this season than it was at this time last year.
They lead the nation in scoring defense (7.2 points game), total defense (211.6 yards per game) and red-zone defending, allowing nine scores (five touchdowns and four field goals) in 16 attempts for 56.2%.
Junior linebacker Arvell Reese, a first-year starter who is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, has emerged as one of the stalwarts.
“There’s talk about him with awards, or maybe there’s talk about him in the draft. That doesn’t affect Arvell,” Ohio State coach Ryad Day said. “Arvell just focuses on what matters. It starts with a mindset but I think early in his career he could have very easily been discouraged because maybe he didn’t play as much.”
Reese leads the Buckeyes with 55 tackles and has 6 ½ sacks, second on the team.
“They have a lot of big time players and the most impressive thing is they’re playing complimentary football, playing as a team,” UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “It’s good to see that can still happen. Their offense, defense, special teams, is all tied into each other; the offensive ball control and getting the defense off the field, and the defense getting the ball back for the offense and the special teams getting out there making a difference.”
The Ohio State offense is led by Heisman Trophy contenders Julian Sayin and receiver Jeremiah Smith. Sayin threw for 303 yards and a 35-yard TD to Smith in the 34-10 win at Purdue on Saturday.
Smith had a career-high 10 catches for 137 yards despite extra attention because receiver Carnell Tate did not play as a precaution due to an undisclosed injury. He is expected to be available against the Bruins.
It’s been a strange season for UCLA. An 0-3 start cost DeShaun Foster his job. Skipper lost his first game then reeled of three straight wins, including Penn State, before losing to No. 2 Indiana, 56-6, and Nebraska, 28-21.
Bruins quarterback Nico Iamaleava may have flashbacks when he steps onto the Ohio Stadium field for a second time. Eleven months ago, he was playing for Tennessee on a 25-degree night for a CFP first-round matchup.
It didn’t go well. The Buckeyes routed the Vols 42-17 and he was 14 of 31 for 104 yards, sacked four times for 35 yards and had 20 rushes for 47 yards.
Last week, Nebraska sacked him three times and Iamaleava took a beating while rushing for a team-high 86 yards.
“Obviously, starting quarterback, you don’t want to take big hits and things like that, but if they’re going to give him running lanes, you might as well take them,” Skipper said. “I kid with him all the time, every now and then you might want to slide a little bit. But when you have a natural runner like he is, you kind of just let them go do their thing.”
