2013 Virginia Tech Football: UCLA Game Guide

Virginia Tech Hokies (8-4) vs. UCLA Bruins (9-3)

Time: 2:10 p.m. EDT
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013
Place: El Paso, Tx.
Stadium: Sun Bowl Stadium
(Cap: 51,500, Open: 1963, Field: AstroPlay)
TV: CBS
Radio: VT IMG, XM 91 (Internet 91), Sirius 91 (Internet 91)
Spread: Virginia Tech -7
Weather: High of 59, 0% Chance of Rain

UCLA: In their last game against the USC Trojans, the Bruins triumphed against their arch-rivals 35-14. They got on the board first with a 3-yard Myles Jack run with a few minutes left in first quarter. They added to the lead with another touchdown on a Eddie Vanderdoes 1-yard run minutes into the second quarter. The Trojans responded, cutting the lead in half on an 11-yard Javorius Allen run with 6:55 left in the half. But the Bruins pushed the lead back to two scores on a 12-yard Brett Hundley run five minutes into the third quarter. The Trojans, however, stood tough, scoring on their next drive on a 22-yard pass from Hundley to Xavier Gamble. But less than 3 minutes later, Hundley picked up his second rushing touchdown of the day from 5 yards out. Late in the fourth quarter, Paul Perkins provided the final nail in the coffin on an 8-yard run with just minutes remaining to make the final score 35-14.

History Lesson: The following information is all provided via Hokiesports.com. The Hokies have never played the Bruins in football. They are 0-3 all-time against current Pac-12 teams and 0-3 against teams from the state of California. They are, however, 3-6 all-time in the state of Texas. Tech is 0-1 all-time in the Sun Bowl, losing to Cincinnati 18-6 in 1947, their first ever bowl game, but played it at Kidd Field, the adjacent stadium to Sun Bowl Stadium. They are 5-4 all-time in games played on Tuesdays and 5-1 on New Year's Eve all-time. (18-3 against Coastal Division opponents at home) (rankings data dates back to 1950, the earliest year of Hokiesports' poll of choice, the Coaches' Poll).

What to Expect

• The Bruins run a spread offense.
• Defensively, UCLA primarily runs a 3-4 scheme.
• The Bruins rank No. 37 nationally in total offense with 448.2 yards per game. They are also scoring 36.5 points per game, which ranks No. 23 nationally.
• UCLA ranks No. 44 in passing offense with 251.6 yards per game through the air.
• The Bruins rank No. 37 nationally with 196.6 yards per game on the ground.
• Defensively, the Bruins are giving up 392.8 yards per game, good for No. 55 nationally. They also are tied for No. 37 in the nation in scoring defense, giving up 24.1 points per game.
• In rushing defense, UCLA is No. 73 nationally, allowing 171.7 yards per game. Through the air, they've allowed 221.1 yards per game, good for a No. 45 ranking in the nation.
• Brett Hundley has passed for 2,845 yards with 22 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
• The Bruins are really running back by committee, and three players have rushed for 500 yards or more, including quarterback Brett Hundley (587 yards), Paul Perkins (570 yards) and Jordon James (525 yards). Hundley leads with 9 touchdowns, followed by running back/linebacker Myles Jack with 7 and Perkins and James with 5 apiece.
• The Bruins top receiver is Shaquelle Evans, who has 43 receptions for 617 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Hokies Win If: They don't turn the ball over, run the football and .

Bruins Win If: UCLA stops Tech's running game in its tracks, forces Logan Thomas to make bad throws and the Hokies let Brett Hundley beat them.

Dot-dot-dots: The triple-overtime win over Marshall was win No. 700 for the program. The Hokies are one of only 15 teams in the FBS to have that many wins. Frank Beamer is in sixth place all-time in wins among FBS coaches with 266. He needs 33 more to pass Joe Paterno, who now stands at 298 wins after 111 wins were vacated from Paterno's record. Individually, Logan Thomas is now the all-time leading-passer in Virginia Tech history in passing attempts (1,237), completions (690) and career passing yardage (8,957 yards). Thomas became the all-time leader in passing yards in Virginia Tech history against North Carolina, passing Tyrod Taylor. In the win over Georgia Tech, Thomas moved into a tie for second place all-time at Virginia Tech in wins for a quarterback with 26 in the win over Virginia. He needs one more wins to move into sole possession of second place all-time and pass Bryan Randall with 27 wins. Thomas is also now the all-time leader in total yardage in Tech history after passing Tyrod Taylor in the loss to Boston College, and stands at 10,267 yards. He is the school's first 10,000-yard player in total offense. In the loss to Duke, Thomas also moved passed Tyrod Taylor for first place all-time in rushing touchdowns among Virginia Tech quarterbacks, with 24. In the win over Miami, Thomas also moved into sole possession of the passing touchdown record at Virginia Tech with 50, passing Bryan Randall whom he had previously been tied for with 48. He now has 53. Thomas is also fourth all-time in rushing yards among Virginia Tech quarterbacks with 1,310, 216 yards behind Bryan Randall for third all-time. Against Virginia, Thomas passed Randall for the all-time consecutive starts record for a quarterback at Virginia Tech with 39. With 3 receptions against UCLA, Joshua Stanford will have 40 receptions for the season, the third Hokie with 40 receptions on the team, the first time that will have happened in Virginia Tech history. The Hokies are 5-1 all-time on December 31.