Miami football six most likely bowl opponents

UCLA

Brad Crawford of 247 Sports projects Miami to play UCLA in the Sun Bowl. The Bruins and Hurricanes previously met in the 1985 Fiesta Bowl.

UCLA won 49-45 in the first Miami bowl game under Jimmy Johnson. The loss was Miami’s third in a row to end the 1985 season. Miami lost their first three bowl games under Johnson.

Miami lost 31-8 at UCLA in 1995 and had the memorable 39-37 upset victory over the Bruins in 1998 in the “Edgerrin James Game.” James ran for 299 yards for Miami to knock UCLA out of the BCS National Championship Game. UCLA has not come close to competing for a National Championship since 1998.

The Bruins are 8-4 in 2021. That is by far their best season under Chip Kelly. Kelly is 18-25 in four seasons in Westwood. Kelly was previously 46-7 as the head coach at Oregon from 2009 through 2012 at Oregon before leaving to become the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the first winning season for Kelly at UCLA.

Another shootout from Miami and UCLA should be expected if the matchup in El Paso happens. UCLA averages 36.5 PPG which is 16th nationally. The Bruins allow 26.8 PPG which is 75th in FBS. UCLA has an elite rushing offense averaging 215.08 yards per game to rank 17th nationally.