Pregame Guesses: UCLA Bruins Football at Colorado Buffaloes
Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell, who coached the Bruins against the Buffs in his first game as a head coach in 2003, now faces UCLA in his first game back at the head coaching position.

The last time that I wrote about UCLA athletics, it was a for a different website about a UCLA baseball team that never got to demonstrate its immense potential, days before the curtain came crashing down on life as we knew it in the form of a global pandemic.
After months away from following—let alone writing about—a UCLA athletics program that wasn’t actively competing in sports, Joe asked me to come back this season to write football’s Pregame Guesses, in a season that many—myself included--thought would never come to fruition.
UCLA sports had been about as far from my mind due to geography, other issues more important that sports, and no games being played. But football season was coming up with basketball season not too far behind, and I needed to re-engage with UCLA athletics.
So, how could I refuse Joe’s offer? I couldn’t.
Also, following the lead of former writers from that other website, I am retiring the “orlandobruin.” You can call me Steve.
So, welcome back UCLA football! I hope that all of the players stay safe and that the Pac-12 can pull this thing off.
If you are not familiar with this piece, I posit three questions about the upcoming UCLA football game and invite you, the readers, to make your guesses about the game. Sometimes there is a bonus guess. Tying it all together is a music video of a song that (IMHO) has relevance to the upcoming game. Some songs are more relevant than others. Sometimes, I just say, screw it, I’m choosing something I like. The idea is that you can listen to the tune while you read the article and/or make your guesses. Got it?
The song of the week is “Strange Days” by The Doors. The reason for the choice is threefold: (1) the title of the work and the lyrics are on point as we are in the middle of the first global pandemic of all of our generations; (2) The Doors have always been closely aligned with UCLA. Indeed, Jim Morrison attended and graduated from UCLA; and (3) I became a big Doors fan during my time in Westwood between ’87-’92 (yep, I was on the five year plan), and that band will always remind me of those times, despite much of their music, including “Strange Days” being produced before I was even born. For me, The Doors are the quintessential UCLA band. Here is “Strange Days” from 1967:
Good song. Weird video (made much later in 1993). On to the guesses . . .
The Bruins beat the Buffs 31-14 at the Rose Bowl last season, one of their two home wins. In that game, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was an efficient 21 of 28 with two touchdowns and an interception. Thompson-Robinson, now back for his junior year, has appeared in 21 games for UCLA already, including the Southern Cal game where he took one snap and Wilton Speight led the Bruins to victory over the hated Trojans in 2018. With an uneven — to say the least — fall practice and all the new faces at wide receiver, will Thompson-Robinson begin to “level up” this year and fulfill the huge potential that many had for him?
PREGAME GUESS NUMBER ONE: Predict Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s passing stats: completions, attempts, TD passes, and INTs in Saturday’s game.
With the departure of Joshua Kelley to the San Die . . . erm, . . . Los Angeles . . . Chargers (that’s always going to be a tough one for me), the Bruins finds themselves in an interesting situation at running back. The Bruins return redshirt senior Demetric Felton, who has a lot of “shake and bake” and speed, but might not be the best choice between the tackles. But UCLA also acquired Brittain Brown as a graduate transfer from Duke, a program that has outshone UCLA’s program in the last several years. Brown is a little bigger and a little taller than Felton, and could be the thunder to Felton’s lightning.
PREGAME GUESS NUMBER 2: This is a multi-part question. (a) Which back (Felton or Brown) will accumulate more carries versus Colorado? (b) Which back will rush for more yards? (c) Will either back score a touchdown? (d) If so, whom and how many?
UCLA’s team defense has been putrid under two years of Jerry Azzinaro. The guy got a $50,000 raise after last season for leading the Bruins to #117 in total defense in the country (11 out of 12 in the Pac-12) in 2019. In his first year at UCLA, “Azz” was #104 in team defense. Ugh.
There is a lot of uncertainty around the defense this season. The defensive line, anchored by Osa Odighizuwa, is the best unit of the three. The Bruins lost most of their starting linebackers from 2019, adding three new starters. And, although junior safety Stephen Blaylock is a stud, the rest of the UCLA secondary is a big question mark. Like the last two years, expect a lot of “bend but don’t break” (or hope they don’t break).
PREGAME GUESS NUMBER 3: It’s a two-parter. (a) How many total yards will Colorado gain against the 2020 UCLA defense? (b) How many points with the UCLA defense concede?
Bruin-for-life and former UCLA Head Football Coach Karl Dorrell has taken over as the leader of the Colorado Buffaloes program. I will always respect Dorrell for what he did on the field. His coaching resume at UCLA, and his preparedness to be a head coach, however, will always be questioned and open to valid criticism IMHO. One of the running jokes among fans back then, allegedly based on the true story (or was it urban legend?) of newly hired UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero’s interview of Dorrell (who had never held a head coaching position), was that the AD, in making his first major hire, felt that Coach Dorrell “presented well.” Guerrero noted as an example Coach Dorrell’s well-pressed pants, with a sharp crease.
So, as time has worn on and Coach Dorrell has gone through the grind of holding multiple assistant coach positions in the NFL (and one year in college at Vandy) over the last 12 years, has his taste in pants mellowed? BONUS GUESS: Please guess the "crease level" of Karl Dorrell's pants during the game tomorrow night. This is multiple choice: (a) “pressed crease” (high level of sharpness); (b) “traveler's crease” (medium level of sharpness; (c) “chinos” (low level of sharpness); or (d) dungarees (flat-faced pant with no crease at all).
That’s all for me, folks. It’s good to be back writing again for UCLA athletics. Make your guesses and/or let us know your thoughts on all things UCLA football in the comments below!
Go Bruins!
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Welcome Back Orlan.... umm Stephen
#1 DTR 18-24 2 TDs 1 Int 227 Yds
#2 Felton 22 Carries 135 Yds 1 TD, Brown 10 Carries 52 Yards 1 TD
#3 Colorado 225 yds. 2 TD
You'll always be orlando to me, Steve. ;-)
1. 20-30, 180 yds , 1TD 1 Int
2. Felton, Felton, 1 each
3. 300 yds total, 18 pmts. It's Dorrell, after all.
Bonus: Pressed. btw I blame Carnesale more than Guerrero for being awestruck by the nice suit, but Guerrero would go on to plenty of his own ridiculous moves in his career.
Double bonus: Welcome back, Bruins!! I Hope everyone is doing well! What a f'd up year so far. It's good to get something semi-normal for a bit! Go Bruins!