Here's a look at Saturday's lineups and key matchups — and a prediction from Star reporter Justin Spears.
No. 19 UCLA (6-2) at Arizona (5-3)
When: Saturday
Where: Arizona Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
TV: FS1
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
UCLA Bruins
Record: 6-2 (3-2 Pac-12)
WHEN UCLA IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR | 1 | J. Michael Sturdivant | 6-3 | 205 | R-So.
WR | 11 | Logan Loya | 5-11 | 185 | Sr.
LT | 75 | Bruno Fina | 6-5 | 300 | R-Jr.
LG | 74 | Spencer Holstege | 6-5 | 310 | R-Jr.
C | 62 | Duke Clemens | 6-4 | 300 | R-Sr.
RG | 54 | Josh Carlin | 6-5 | 310 | Sr.
RT | 72 | Garrett DiGiorgio | 6-6 | 310 | R-So.
TE | 88 | Moliki Matavao | 6-6 | 263 | Jr.
WR | 0 | Kam Brown | 6-1 | 190 | Sr.
QB | 4 | Ethan Garbers | 6-3 | 210 | R-Jr.
RB | 33 | Carson Steele | 6-1 | 225 | Jr.
WHEN UCLA IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE | 15 | Laiatu Latu | 6-5 | 265 | Sr.
DT | 99 | Keanu Williams | 6-5 | 310 | R-So.
DT | 93 | Jay Toia | 6-3 | 325 | Jr.
DE | 11 | Gabriel Murphy | 6-3 | 260 | R-Jr.
LB | 53 | Darius Muasau | 6-1 | 230 | R-Sr..
LB | 20 | Kain Medrano | 6-3 | 230 | Sr.
OLB | 2 | Oluwafemi Oladejo | 6-3 | 250 | Jr.
CB | 24 | Jaylin Davies | 6-0 | 180 | R-So.
SS | 27 | Kamari Ramsey | 6-1 | 205 | R-Fr.
FS | 23 | Kenny Churchwell III | 6-2 | 205 | R-Sr.
CB | 6 | John Humphrey | 6-2 | 205 | Sr.
UCLA defensive lineman Laiatu Latu, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown on an interception during the first half of the Bruins’ game against North Carolina Central on Sept. 16, in Pasadena, Calif.
UCLA 2023 schedule
September
2 | COASTAL CAROLINA | W, 27-13
9 | at San Diego State | W, 35-10
16 | NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL | W, 59-7
23 | at No. 11 Utah | L, 14-7
30 | BYE
October
7 | No. 13 WASHINGTON STATE | W, 25-17
14 | at No. 15 Oregon State | L, 36-24
21 | at Stanford | W, 42-7
28 | COLORADO | W, 18-16
November
4 | at Arizona | 7:30 p.m.
11 | ARIZONA STATE | 6 p.m.
18 | at No. 20 USC | TBD
25 | CAL | TBD
Home games in Bold
UCLA 2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Moore | 87-168-7 |1,330 | 10 | 81
Garbers | 51-73-3 | 643 | 5 | 49
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Carson | 124 | 674 | 6 | 5.4 | 84.3
Harden | 88 | 466 | 5 | 5.3 | 58.3
Schlee | 15 | 201 | 3 | 13.4 | 50.3
Adkins | 24 | 153 | 1 | 6.4 | 25.5
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
Logan | 34 | 421 | 3 | 12.4 | 52.6
Sturdivant | 24 | 407 | 3 | 17.0 | 50.9
Matavao | 8 | 203 | 2 | 25.4 | 25.4
Ryan | 10 | 172 | 2 | 17.2 | 21.5
Norwood | 10 | 161 | 2 | 16.1 | 20.1
Brown| 12 | 157 | 1 | 13.1 | 19.6
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Muasau | 43 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0
Medrano | 38 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1
Oladejo | 33 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 0
Ramsey | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Latu | 26 | 9.5 | 1 | 0 | 2
Arizona cornerback Ephesians Prysock (7) does enough to keep Oregon State wide receiver Anthony Gould (2) from making a first down catch late in the fourth quarter of their Pac 12 game at Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Ariz., October 28, 2023.
Arizona Wildcats
Record: 5-3 (3-2 Pac-12)
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
XWR | 4 | Tetairoa McMillan | 6-5 | 210 | So.
FWR | 2 | Jacob Cowing | 5-11 | 175 | Sr.
LT | 77 | Jordan Morgan | 6-5 | 325 | Sr.
LG | 72 | Wendell Moe | 6-2 | 340 | R-Fr.
C | 75 | Josh Baker | 6-3 | 305 | Jr.
RG | 65 | Leif Magnuson | 6-5 | 315 | R-So.
RT | 71 | Jonah Savaiinaea | 6-5 | 330 | So.
TE | 84 | Tanner McLachlan | 6-5 | 245 | R-Sr.
ZWR | 5 | Montana Lemonious-Craig | 6-2 | 200 | Jr.
QB | 11 | Noah Fifita | 5-11 | 194 | R-Fr.
RB | 3 | Jonah Coleman | 5-9 | 223 | So.
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE (PROJECTED):
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
KAT | 90 | Isaiah Ward | 6-5 | 225 | R-Fr.
DT | 92 | Tyler Manoa | 6-5 | 315 | Sr.
NT | 45 | Bill Norton | 6-6 | 325 | Sr.
DE | 11 | Taylor Upshaw | 6-5 | 270 | Grad.
WLB | 59 | Jacob Manu | 5-11 | 225 | So.
MLB | 10 | Justin Flowe | 6-2 | 225 | R-So.
STAR | 2 | Treydan Stukes | 6-2 | 195 | Jr.
CB | 7 | Ephesians Prysock | 6-4 | 190 | So.
CB | 23 | Tacario Davis | 6-4 | 195 | So.
BS | 43 | Dalton Johnson | 5-11 | 200 | R-So.
FS | 9 | Gunner Maldonado | 6-0 | 195 | Jr.
UA 2023 schedule
September
2 | N. ARIZONA | W, 38-3
9 | at Mississippi State | L, 31-24 (OT)
16 | UTEP | W, 31-10
23 | at Stanford | W, 21-20
30 | No. 7 WASHINGTON | L, 31-24
October
7 | at No. 9 USC | L, 43-41 (3OT)
14 | at No. 19 Washington State | W, 44-6
28 | No. 11 OREGON STATE | W, 27-24
November
4 | No. 19 UCLA | 7:30 p.m.
11 | at Colorado | Noon
18 | No. 18 UTAH | TBD
25 | at ASU | TBD
Home games in Bold
UA 2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Fifita | 119-157-3 | 1,221 | 11 | 69
de Laura | 87-125-5 | 1,069 | 9 | 55
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Coleman | 76 | 488 | 3 | 6.4 | 61
Williams | 63 | 297 | 2 | 4.7 | 37.1
Wiley | 42 | 176 | 1 | 4.2 | 35.2
Luke | 26 | 140 | 1 | 5.4 | 17.5
de Laura | 20 | 131 | 3 | 6.6 | 26.2
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
McMillan | 48 | 672 | 6 | 14 | 84
Cowing | 61| 461 | 8 | 7.7 | 60.7
McLachlan | 26 | 323 | 2 | 12.4 | 40.4
Coleman | 21 | 291 | 1 | 9.5 | 38
Wiley | 20 | 190 | 2 | 9.5 | 38
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Manu | 67 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 0
Johnson | 45 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3
Maldonado | 44 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1
Flowe | 39 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0
Prysock | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0
Head to Head
Arizona defensive lineman Tyler Manoa (92) in the first half during an NCAA college football game against Northern Arizona, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
75 Bruno Fina vs. 92 Tyler Manoa
Fina, the son of former UA star and Buffalo Bills offensive lineman John Fina, becomes the latest Tucson native in recent years to return to their hometown to face the Wildcats. The ex-Salpointe Catholic Lancer signed with the Bruins in 2020 and weighed 240 pounds. Now? Fina weighs 300 pounds and has grown an inch. Fina has started every game this season at left tackle for UCLA and has allowed 19 pressures and three sacks in eight games, according to Pro Football Focus. Fina has a 20.7 pass-blocking grade on PFF. However, Fina is a part of an offensive line that has UCLA as the second-best rushing team in the Pac-12, averaging 216 yards per game.
Manoa will face his former team for the first time since entering the transfer portal after last season. In four seasons at UCLA, Manoa totaled 53 tackles before the Bruins converted him into an offensive lineman. As one of Arizona's starting interior defensive linemen alongside Bill Norton, Manoa has 16 tackles and one sack. Manoa is one of four ex-Bruins on Arizona's roster, along with defensive back Martell Irby, who is Arizona's highest-graded PFF defender (84.3), defensive tackle Tiaoalii Savea and backup safety DJ Warnell.
Arizona offensive lineman Wendell Moe (72), quarterback Noah Fifita (11) and offensive lineman Jordan Morgan (77) helped the Wildcats to a dominant win over ranked Washington State on Oct. 14, 2023, in Pullman, Washington.
15 Laiatu Latu vs. 77 Jordan Morgan
The NFL scouts in attendance on Saturday will likely have their eyes on this trench battle between arguably the top tackle in the Pac-12 and the top edge rusher in Latu, who is the highest-graded defensive player (94.2) nationally on PFF. Latu is second in the Pac-12 in sacks and has 24 quarterback pressures this season. Latu's edge-rushing counterpart Gabriel Murphy, a transfer from North Texas, is the fourth-highest overall defender (91.8) by PFF nationally, so this is arguably the toughest task Arizona's offensive line will face all season.
This could be a money-maker game for Morgan, who is considered one of the top offensive tackles entering the NFL Draft in the spring. An impressive performance against Latu and UCLA's Murphy brothers could generate multiple NFL scouts eyeing Morgan in the first round; the previous Arizona offensive lineman to land in the first round was John Fina. Morgan and left guard Wendell Moe each have 86.7 pass-blocking grades for the season, per PFF.
Arizona running back Michael Wiley, right, runs in for a touchdown past diving UCLA defensive back Mo Osling III during the first halfof the Wildcats' Nov. 12, 2022 win over the Bruins in Pasadena, California.
The matchup
When UCLA has the ball …
Despite inconsistent quarterback play, the Bruins have one of the top rushing attacks in the Pac-12 behind, averaging 129.7 yards per game as a team behind Carson Steele, UCLA's junior running back who transferred from Ball State after leading the MAC in rushing. After taking over for Dante Moore at quarterback two games ago, redshirt junior Ethan Garbers is completing 73% of his passes with four touchdowns and just one interception. The Bruins have 18 rushing touchdowns this season. Their opponents: one.
When Arizona has the ball …
The Wildcats returned running back Michael Wiley last week after he missed three weeks with an ankle injury, and the senior caught two receiving touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Arizona beat Oregon State. In last year's game at UCLA, Wiley had a receiving and a rushing touchdown, along with 143 all-purpose yards. Arizona sophomore running back Jonah Coleman, who is averaging 6.4 yards per carry, only had one carry for minus-1 yard at UCLA last year. Coleman and Wiley will face a UCLA rushing defense that is only surrendering 63.1 yards per game.
Prediction: Arizona 34, No. 19 UCLA 28
Win or lose, Arizona has stood up to the test in every game this season. History has shown Arizona tends to have a letdown game every now and then. On the back end of a five-game streak against ranked opponents, will Saturday be the game Arizona runs out of gas? The Wildcats have not shown any signs of slowing down and are more than capable of pulling off their third straight win over a ranked opponent. After Arizona's well-rounded performance against Oregon State, the Wildcats are in position to make a bowl game — and earn an Associated Press Top-25 ranking — for the first time since 2017. They'll duplicate last year's score in Tucson.
