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After a disappointing 49-6 loss to Utah, the Washington State Cougars will return home to host the No. 18 UCLA Bruins on Saturday.
Following its solid performance in a close road loss to Stanford, some expected WSU win against Utah. Instead, the offensive and defensive lines were over matched, leading to a blowout loss and a post game tongue lashing from head coach Mike Leach.
Now, WSU will return to Martin Stadium for the second-to-last time this season. If the Cougars are going to upset the Bruins, they will have to do it without leading receiver Marquess Wilson. Wilson is suspended this week after walking out during a conditioning practice on Sunday. He leads the Cougars with 52 receptions for 813 yards and five touchdowns.
While the WSU offense will try to replace Wilson, the defense will have the difficult task of slowing down a high-scoring Bruins offense. UCLA is 22nd in the country in scoring, averaging 37.0 points per game. The Bruins offensive attack is led by freshman quarterback Brett Hundley and senior running back Johnathan Franklin. Franklin is second in the Pac-12 with 1,204 rushing yards. Hundley completed 67.9 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,478 yards and 21 touchdowns during UCLA's first nine games.
The Cougars have lost four straight games to UCLA and have not defeated the Bruins since 2007.
Game time, TV channel: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2
Online streaming video: WatchESPN
Point spread: UCLA favored by 14 points.
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