UCLA 2025 Football Opponent Primer: Ohio State

The UCLA Bruins are entering their second season in the Big Ten Conference with the hopes of erasing last season's 5-7 record from memory by improving in every facet.

In DeShaun Foster's first full offseason at the helm in Westwood, the Bruins did just that -- improved and restructured nearly every facet of the program from the field to the coaching staff.

With that being said, let's take start taking a look at UCLA's 2025 season opponents and how ESPN's Bill Connelly previews them ahead of the season, moving on to the Bruins' week 12 matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes.

According to ESPN's football power index (FPI), Ohio State is expected to defend its national title and be the best team in the nation, winning a projected 10.3 games (7.7 in the Big Ten), being the first-ranked team in college football.

Here's what Connelly had to say about Ryan Day and the Buckeyes:

"Just trust the product. It's something I found myself repeating frequently as playoff expansion skeptics complained about how we would be losing the integrity of the regular season -- "Alabama will sit players for the Iron Bowl because the result doesn't matter!" and whatnot. But if last year's Michigan-Ohio State game taught us anything, it's that games like that will always matter. The Wolverines' fourth straight win over the Buckeyes completely reversed how Michigan fans would look back at 2024, and it sent Ohio State, and especially its fans, into a weekslong tailspin even though Ohio State still safely secured a playoff spot. The regular season is going to remain a delight because college football is a delight. Just trust the product.

"That ended up applying to Ohio State too. The dud against Michigan cost Day's Buckeyes a potential CFP bye, but they regrouped and unleashed their star power, winning four CFP games by an average score of 36-19. It wasn't a total surprise -- they entered the postseason still ranked first in SP+, after all -- but it was quite the show of strength.

"A lot of names will be different this time. The Buckeyes start out first in SP+, but they'll have two new coordinators (Brian Hartline on offense, Matt Patricia on defense) leading a lineup that returns basically 5.5 combined starters. There are former blue-chippers everywhere you look, and receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs are two of the most proven players in the country. But both lines are starting over, and of the four players with more than 750 yards from scrimmage last season, only Smith returns.

"It's hard to be inspired by the new coordinator hires. In Hartline's first job as OC in 2023, the Buckeyes crashed to 34th in offensive SP+ and Day hired Chip Kelly for a year. With Kelly off to the NFL again, Hartline gets a do-over. As for Patricia, well, he has loads of NFL experience and was mentored by Bill Belichick, but the last time he performed well in any capacity (from a statistical standpoint) was 2016.

"That said, talent rules, and both Hartline and Patricia will oversee loads of it. Likely starting quarterback Julian Sayin was a top-10 recruit in 2024, Smith and Carnell Tate are a terrifying receiver duo (and there are countless other former blue-chippers available), likely starting running back James Peoples is a former top-200 recruit with excellent yards-after-contact potential (West Virginia starter CJ Donaldson Jr. is physical too), and the offensive line has 12 former blue-chippers and six players with starting experience, including two transfers.

"The ingredients are just as high end on defense. Day brought in a couple of defensive end transfers -- Beau Atkinson (North Carolina) and Logan George (Idaho State), who combined for 30.5 tackles for loss and 14 sacks last season -- but that was about all the portal work he needed. Downs and linebacker Sonny Styles will clean up a lot of potential messes, and plenty of 2024 backups thrived in limited samples, most notably ends Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Joshua Mickens and tackles Kayden McDonald and Eddrick Houston. Sophomore corners Jermaine Mathews Jr. and Aaron Scott Jr. are probably also ready for larger roles alongside senior Davison Igbinosun.

"There are obvious reasons why Ohio State starts out on top. I wish I liked the new hires more, but if the Buckeyes repeat as champs, we'll all act as if we assumed it all along."

Ohio State is UCLA's second outright projected loss of the season (next to Penn State), and their week 12 matchup falls in the middle of a tough four-game stretch to end the season that could have major bowl game bid implications.