LA Bowl – UCLA vs Boise State Free Picks
Broncos Quarterback Situation Unsettled
Boise State will battle UCLA in the Starco Brands LA Bowl, but the Broncos won’t have their top quarterback available. UCLA’s Dante Moore and Boise State’s Taylen Green have both entered the transfer portal. But the games go on regardless of who is playing and who is not. The Bruins are favored by 2.5 points and the total on the game has held steady at the opening number of 49.5. UCLA is -130 on the moneyline. The UCLA vs Boise State free pick will look at both teams and look for the best value betting plays on the board.
Starco Brands LA Bowl
Bruins vs Broncos 
Day/Time:
Records: UCLA Bruins (7-5) vs Boise State Broncos (8-5)
Location: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California
Streaming: ABC
Bruins’ Motivation Suspect
The Bruins are basically playing a home game here, but not exactly the home game they wanted. UCLA fans would turn out in droves for the Rose Bowl. But the LA Bowl, not so much. For Chip Kelly and UCLA, playing on the first day of college bowl games has to be viewed as a disappointment.
UCLA will start Ethan Garbers at quarterback. He was the starter before the season started, but then lost his job to Moore, only to get it back when Moore had some troubles. He was injured in the season finale, but Kelly said the team expects to have him back for the bowl game. Whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.
The Bruins struggled offensively, averaging 25.6 points against teams that allowed 31 points on average. The rushing game wasn’t bad, averaging 4.8 yards per carry against teams that allowed 4.9 yards.
One of the biggest problems the Bruins had offensively was capitalizing on opportunities. UCLA scored one point for every 16.3 yards gained against defenses that allowed a point for every 13.3 yards given up.
The Bruins were strong on defense, allowing 18.1 points to teams that averaged 26.6 points. UCLA allowed just 2.3 yards per rush and 4.6 yards per play.
The Bruins were able to avoid Washington and Oregon in Pac-12 Conference play, so they didn’t see the best offenses in the conference. But you can’t find fault with how they played against the NCAAF teams they did face.
Broncos Open Spencer Danielson Era
Boise State named Spencer Danielson as their head coach for 2024, removing the interim tag he had for the last three games of the college football season. But he’s entering this game at a bit of a disadvantage, as freshman quarterback CJ Tiller could very well see his first college action here. He’s been listed as the backup to Green after Maddux Madsen was injured.
The Broncos like to the run the football, averaging 40 runs and 27 passes per game. But running the ball isn’t going to be easy against UCLA’s defense.
Boise State will need Tiller to make a few plays to stay in the game. Boise State averages 5.5 yards per rush against teams allowing 4.5 yards a carry. The passing game was better than average regarding yards per pass attempt.
On defense, the Broncos allowed 24.8 points against teams that averaged 29.7 points per game. Boise State was solid against the run, but a little worse than average against the pass.
Bruins Struggle With Good Teams
The UCLA Bruins have had their share of problems against the better teams in the NCAAF standings. The Bruins are 2-4 against the spread this year when playing teams above .500 and 5-10 ATS the last three years.
The Bruins never really got untracked offensively this season, and the result was a 2-10 record in totals. UCLA saw its last six CFB games of the season land under the number. One of the two overs the Bruins had this season was their 59-7 victory over NC Central when the total was 60.5. The other was against Oregon State.
The Bruins were favored nine times this season and went 4-5 against the NCAAF odds. The Broncos were 0-4 straight-up and 1-2-1 against the spread when they were underdogs.
The UCLA vs Boise State free pick on the total is going to be on the under 49.5. The Bruin defense has been pretty solid most of the season, while Boise’s defense isn’t as bad as it first looks.
The UCLA vs Boise State free pick for the side play will be Boise State +2.5 and also the Broncos +110 on the moneyline. Boise State gets a big edge in motivation due to playing for their new coach, while the Bruins could be playing for a lame duck in Kelly. It’s also hard to ignore UCLA’s struggles with teams above .500.
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