Utah at UCLA: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

Utah (0-0,0-0) at UCLA 0-0,0-0)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 9 p.m. MDT

• Venue: Rose Bowl

• Series: UCLA leads 7-3

• Weather: Clear with temperatures in the high 70s at kickoff, falling to low 70s by end of game.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes are looking for redemption this year after a 5-7 season that saw them lose seven consecutive games for the first time in the Kyle Whittingham era.

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Utah is 4-1 in its last five contests against UCLA, including a 14-7 win in Salt Lake City in 2023.

For UCLA: The Bruins are similarly coming off of a 5-7 season and eager to get back in the win column.

What to watch for

It’s going to be a fun quarterback battle between new UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava and new Utah signal-caller Devon Dampier, but the key matchup will likely be the Bruins’ offensive line vs. the Utes’ defensive line.

UCLA’s offensive line performed poorly last season, averaging a just 86.6 rushing yards per game and allowing 34 sacks.

The Bruins retooled the line over the offseason — the only returning starter from last year’s offensive line is right tackle Garrett DiGornio — but they’re fairly inexperienced.

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The other four projected starters only played a combined 42 snaps.

Meanwhile, the Utes will have some new starters along the defensive line.

Logan Fano is projected to start at one defensive end spot, with Dallas Vakalahi and Aliki Vimahi, who have previous starting experience, moving into the full-time roles.

It’ll be interesting to see who starts at the other defensive end spot between John Henry Daley, Paul Fitzgerald, Lance Holtzclaw and Kash Dillon, but we’ll give the nod to Daley.

How much has UCLA improved on the offensive line compared to last year? How will Utah’s defensive line fare in the first game of the season?

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This matchup will be one to watch on Saturday.

Key player

Devon Dampier, Utah QB:

All eyes will be on Utah’s new quarterback as he takes the field for the first time as a Ute.

Last season, Dampier was sensational for New Mexico, helping the Lobos to one of the most productive offenses in the entire country while throwing for 2,768 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushing for 1,166 yards and 19 scores.

Utah’s coaches say that Dampier has improved in the areas he needs to — turnovers (12 interceptions last season) and accuracy (57.9% completion rate).

Saturday will be the first chance to see what Dampier and the new offense, called by former New Mexico OC Jason Beck, is made of.

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Can Dampier have the same success offensively at the Power Four level? We’ll find out.

Quotable

“He’s a playmaker. He can throw the ball, he can run the ball. He’s a true dual-threat guy. He’s a tough runner too. He’s not looking for a place to fall down or step out of bounds. He dips his shoulder and has some physicality to his runs.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava

“Just letting the world know that we have a pretty good D-line that’s coming back. You know, we have two guys that, if we we would’ve had them last season, it would have been lights out for a lot of offenses going against us. But I’m just lucky that they had some unfortunate injuries and they were able to come back, they stayed with us. Now, they’re going to be able to show what they can do this year — this week — and it’s just good that we’re going against the type of O-line that we’re going against. They’re going to have some opportunities to make some money” — UCLA coach DeShaun Foster on his defensive line, via BruinReportOnline

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Next up

• Utah: vs. Cal Poly

• UCLA: at UNLV

Utah schedule

• Aug. 30 — at UCLA

• Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly

• Sept. 13 — at Wyoming

• Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech

• Sept. 27 — at West Virginia

• Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State

• Oct. 18 — at BYU

• Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado

• Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati

• Nov. 15 — at Baylor

• Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State

• Nov. 28 — at Kansas