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Christian McCaffrey will surely be a main focus for the UCLA defense on Saturday. Meanwhile, Josh Rosen will be a main focus for Stanford. What will be the key match ups be this weekend?
Christian McCaffrey vs Jayon Brown
Against BYU, Brown had the responsibilty of spying on Taysom Hill, who is notorious for running the ball as quarterback. Brown excelled in his role as Hill finished with -7 rushing yards. Against Stanford, UCLA will most likely implement a similar strategy for Christian McCaffrey. Watch for Brown following McCaffrey around the entire game as the UCLA plan to stop him. Brown may have stopped Taysom Hill, but Christian McCaffrey is on another level than the BYU quarterback. Good luck Jayon Brown; you’ll need it.
The Stanford offensive line vs the UCLA defensive line
The UCLA defensive line played a huge role in stopping the BYU rush attack by dominating the line of scrimmage. Against Stanford, the UCLA d line will need win the line of scrimmage in order to win the game; they can’t let Chris McCaffrey get into the open field. The two lines will play a critical role deciding who wins the game.
Solomon Thomas vs Kolton Miller
Solomon Thomas will need to put pressure on Josh Rosen, but in his way stands right tackle Kolton Miller. Miller is a redshirt sophomore and started five games last season. Rosen gets nervous under pressure, so Thomas will need to win the battle between him and Miller.
Josh Rosen vs the Stanford secondary
Rosen is a great quarterback and could be a potential #1 pick in the future. Rosen throws around 40 times per game, and the secondary will need to be ready for a pass heavy team. Safeties Dallas Lloyd and Zach Hoffpauir can’t be fooled by a Josh Rosen head fake, and corners Quenton Meeks and Alijah Holder can’t give the receivers a lot of room because Josh Rosen will make them pay.
Match ups will boil down to pretty much just Christian McCaffrey and Josh Rosen. They are both the center of their offense, and they’ll be the biggest factors by far on Saturday. Both UCLA and Stanford will do everything possible to stop the opposing teams stars.