It's hard to believe it's only been five years since Chip Kelly last walked the sidelines of a college football game. The UCLA Bruins went all-in to bring in one of the most coveted names in the coaching ranks in college football, and they've turned the keys to the castle over to him. We'll get to see him sport his new colors in Week 1 of the college football season against the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday.
Kickoff for this regular season Week 1 game is set for Saturday, September 1, 2018 at 7 p.m. ET at the Rose Bowl.
NCAA Football Betting at BookMaker.eu
Cincinnati +14.5
UCLA -14.5
Over/Under 64
Odds Analysis
It's tempting to believe that Kelly's influence will immediately be able to help out an offense that averaged 32.5 points per game last season. However, the Bruins no longer have Josh Rosen under center, and they could be a bit of a work in progress.
That said, this is an incredibly young team and one that is up against a tall task this season in the PAC-12. Early bettors have figured that out, too. The Bearcats opened as 16.5-point underdogs on the CFB betting line. Savvy bettors will want to take advantage of the best number available, Cincinnati +14.5, if they want a piece of the visitors in this one before the number dips below two touchdowns.
The total, meanwhile, has flown up in the last two weeks. In the middle of August, the oddsmakers at BookMaker.eu opened up the total of this one at 59. We've watched the number climb five points to 64 per the CFB betting odds as of the publication of this article.
Coaching Angle
You might think that the coaching angle to look at involves Kelly, but in fact, it's Luke Fickell whom we're most interested in discussing.
Fickell is a tremendous recruiter, and he proved that by landing the nation's 47th-best recruiting class this year per 247Sports Composite, easily the best among Group of Five schools. Fickell has made it known that he's going to throw his freshmen right into the fire, especially at the wide receiver position where there is virtually no depth coming back from last year.
Though the Bearcats still have a way to go to get back to the top of the AAC, they clearly showed improvement offensively at the end of last season, averaging 22.2 points per game in their last five games of the season. That’s an improvement from the 19 PPG they averaged in their first six meetings against FBS teams.
Whereas Kelly's hiring was one of flash for the Bruins, Fickell is going to have a much more pragmatic approach and will try to just do the little things right to pull off the upset in this game.
Key Player
Who will UCLA throw under center in this opening game of the season? Though we don't have a formal answer for that yet, it feels like the right answer is going to be Michigan transfer Wilton Speight. Speight was nothing to write home about playing for Jim Harbaugh in his pro-style system in Ann Arbor, but perhaps a change of scenery can help at the tail end of his collegiate career.
The one thing we know, though, is that quarterback play is going to be crucial in this one for UCLA; especially with one top running back Soso Jamabo suspended for the opener.
Over the course of the last few seasons, quarterbacks not named Josh Rosen haven't exactly shined in the powder blue and gold. Last season, Devon Modster started three games, leading the Bruins to a win over Cal and losses against Kansas State and Utah.
In 2017, the Bruins averaged 35.8 PPG in Rosen's starts and 21.3 PPG in Modster's. In 2016, Rosen put up 32.2 PPG, while backup Mike Fafaul went 1-5 and averaged just 23 PPG.
Free ATS Pick
The Bruins have plenty of depth, but this is a raw team that has a lot going on right now in terms of coaching changes and suspensions. They don't have a bona fide starting quarterback yet, and the men they've got vying for the job are all very different in their playing styles. We know what Kelly wants to do, but we aren't sure he has the pieces around him yet to get the job done.
Meanwhile, Hayden Moore has quietly improved at Cincinnati, and Fickell is building a team that could get to a bowl game this season. A great first step in the right direction would be pulling off a major upset in Week 1 at the Rose Bowl.
NCAA Football Odds: Cincinnati 34, UCLA 27
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