2023 LA Bowl – UCLA vs Boise St
posted December 13
The Game
Welcome to one of the most disgusting cities on the planet. That’s what happens when you have a city run by corrupt degenerate filth and have AMERICAN PSYCHO as governor. Thankfully, there’s a college football game in these parts on Saturday as UCLA battles Boise St. The Bruins were a disappointment this year as they started 6-2 but sputtered down the stretch winning just one of their final four games. The Broncos fired their HC and pulled the season out of the fire and won the Mountain West Championship! They roll into town riding a four-game winning streak and will look to upset a PAC 12 foe in this BAD BOY.
The Details
UCLA -4.5 Boise St (48.5)
MEGALOCKS LINE – UCLA -6
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: UCLA 26.5 Boise St 22
UCLA offense vs Boise St defense
The Bruins finished the season with respectable overall stats (#21 FBS rushing, #59 passing) but their offense was trash in the final month of the season as they scored 10 vs Arizona, 7 vs Arizona St, and 7 vs California in three heinous losses. There isn’t much good news to report as they’ll be without their most talented (but erratic) QB in Dante Moore and #1 RB Carson Steele hasn’t been seen as practice so far this week. Boise St has been a mess at times vs the pass but they’ve been decent vs the run (#29 FBS) so they’ll likely be able to force UCLA to beat them thru the air which won’t be easy given the struggles that the THROW GAME has experienced over the final month of the season. We expect UCLA to grind out some drives but don’t think they’ll be able to go nuts by any stretch of the imagination.
Boise St offense vs UCLA defense
The Broncos finally got the offense rolling under QB Taylen Green who provided a serious dual-threat for defenses to worry about but……..HE GONE. Yup, see ya later, bitches. Transfer portal time. With backup QB Maddux Madsen being OFY due to injury it’ll be up to something called a Colt Fulton (zero career passes) to save the day. The Broncos don’t have much talent at WR/TE but they do have an excellent 1-2 combo at RB including the DEVASTATING ALL-MEGALOCKS TEAM superstar Ashton Jeanty (1,262 rush, 14 TD; 39 receptions, 552 yards, 5 TD). The bad news is that UCLA has been a brick wall vs the run this year (70 YPG, #2 FBS) (!) so it might be tough sledding for the Broncos EVEN WITH several key players missing on defense for this game including superstar DL Laiatu Latu who’s a virtual LOCK to be a top-10 NFL DC.
Trends, Intangibles and More!
UCLA has the coaching edge in this one given that Boise St is rolling with an interim HC and the Bruins have veteran Chip Kelly at the controls…..Mind you Kelly is just 2-3 SU in bowl games…..If you happen to be in Los Angeles for the game and realize what a horrible decision it was, just make sure that you keep a sharp eye on your kids as this post-apocalyptic hellhole is teeming with child traffickers, and even worse, note that Disneyland isn’t too far away.
Summary
It’s hard to see Boise St being too explosive on offense with a raw 3rd/4th string QB making his first career start. UCLA has also found points hard to come by down the stretch.
Conclusion
Lean – Under 48.5
‘Official play’ implies this pick is one of our favorites of the week (perceived value, match-up, coaching, trends, etc.). We’re currently playing these picks for the same amount as the leans but it’s up to you how you want to manage your bankroll. Please see the Week in Review posts for more detail.
‘Lean’ implies we are placing a wager on the game.
‘No leanage’ implies we won’t have any action on the game.
Team totals – We list the implied number based on the point spread and total when our analysis is posted. If a team total ends up being an official play we will post a widely available number at the time of pick release.