The Oregon Ducks (7-0, 4-0 Pac 12) will face the UCLA Bruins (5-1, 2-1) Saturday in Eugene, Oregon at 7 pm E.T. on ESPN. It will be a marquee matchup between two exciting and pro-bound quarterbacks.
Despite being ranked No. 2 throughout the season in the coach's polls, Oregon trails Florida State (6-0, 4-0) by .0018 in the first BCS standings released this week, according to USA Today. UCLA is ranked No. 12.
Click here for ESPN's live stream.
A win over the 12th-ranked Bruins on Saturday could give the Ducks the edge they will need to overcome that small margin, according to USA Today. A win this week and a victory over No. 6 Stanford (6-1,4-1) next week almost guarantees that fact. Florida State plays unranked NC State (3-3,0-3) this weekend; Stanford plays 25th ranked Oregon State (6-1, 4-0).
Saturday's night game will feature two NFL prospects at quarterback in Oregon's Marcus Mariota and UCLA's Brett Hundley. UCLA head coach Jim Mora made headlines this week when he praised the pro potential of Mariota.
"I had a couple guys ask me, NFL guys, if I thought he could play at the next level," Mora said. "I said, 'Have you not watched him? I mean, he'll rip it up at the next level.' I mean this guy is ripping it up at this level. He's really special."
Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich wasn't as gushing in his comments on Hundley. He complimented the sophomore quarterback for his ability to succeed despite a patchwork offensive line.
"Hundley's the type of guy that can work with that, being an athletic guy, being a versatile guy, who can run, who can throw, who can make plays, (the) quick game down the field, all the things that they do," Helfrich said.
Mariota isn't just a future NFL prospect, but a Heisman trophy candidate this year. In what has become typical Oregon QB fashion over the last half-decade or so, he has an incredible TD:INT ratio (19:0), and has added 500 rushing yards and 9 TDs, according to ESPN.
Oregon will welcome the return of another future NFL player, De'Anthony Thomas, who has missed the last three games because of injury. The junior RB is one of the most explosive runners in the country. Despite missing three games, he's run for 338 yards and 6 TDs on just 42 carries.
"It's great just to go out there, see guys having fun," Thomas said. "I hope we can continue that, and put more points up on teams and I feel as long as we keep winning games, we should be successful."
Mora and his young Bruins are coming off a tough loss to Stanford last week. They need this game if they want to stay in the national conversation. He pointed out their youth and even added a compliment on his own coaching prowess.
"I believe that last week, we started seven true freshmen if you include the punter against one of the best teams in America and we took it down to the end," the coach said. "It was 17-10 there with 2:29 or whatever left on the clock. I think that's a testament to the way our guys compete, I think it's a testament to our coaching."
