Bruins too powerful for Cougars

With 20 returning starters, a budding quarterback in Ben Olson and one of the nation's top defenses, 13th-ranked UCLA could be considered a darkhorse contender at this early stage of the national championship puzzle.

Brigham Young, fresh off a convincing victory over Arizona, visits the Rose Bowl today to tangle with the Bruins.

Although the Cougars of the Mountain West Conference have visions of an upset, lay the 7 1/2 points and back the Bruins.

Technically, UCLA is 16-6 against the spread in its past 22 nonconference games and 11-5 against the spread as a home favorite the past three years.

BYU has several other factors working against it in this nonconference matchup, the first being that the Cougars have lost their past seven road games against BCS opponents.

Sophomore quarterback Max Hall, who is replacing the school's No. 2 all-time leading passer, John Beck, makes his first road start against a UCLA defense capable of placing him under great duress.

In addition to replacing a record-setting quarterback with an unproven newcomer, the Cougars also lost a 1,000-yard rusher and their top two pass-catchers from last season.

Defensively, BYU plays as many as four sophomores in its front seven at times.

Olson, the Bruins' junior quarterback, signed with BYU out of high school before going on a Mormon mission and switching colleges.

Other selections for today:

• California-COLORADO STATE (Over 61): The Rams have a veteran but average defense that is not ready for the prime-time, multi-faceted attack of the Golden Bears. Cal's DeSean Jackson, who had a touchdown punt return for the ages last week against Tennessee, could put up 200 all-purpose yards today.

Meanwhile, Cal's defense will give up some points to a Rams offense featuring a strong-armed quarterback in Caleb Hanie, a physical running back in Kyle Bell and a host of capable receivers.

• Texas Christian (+9) over TEXAS: The Longhorns have stumbled badly in their past four games, losing to the point spread by an average of 18 points. Virtually all of TCU's players were ignored by Texas during the recruiting process, a fact that will weigh heavily on the Horned Frogs' minds.

TCU is 17-6 against the spread in its past 23 games and has won five straight games straight-up against Big 12 competition, beginning with a 2005 season-opening victory over Oklahoma.

• ARIZONA STATE (-14 1/2) over Colorado: The Buffaloes were fortunate to beat rival Colorado State 31-28 in overtime last week. Now Colorado goes from the cool mountain air of Boulder to the early September furnace known as Tempe.

In addition to the climate advantage, the Sun Devils have a host of technical angles in their corner. Arizona State is 8-1 against the spread in its past nine nonconference outings. Meanwhile, Colorado is 2-5 against the spread in its past seven as an away underdog.

• OKLAHOMA STATE (-23) over Florida Atlantic: The Owls of the Sun Belt Conference are certainly much improved, but it is difficult to dismiss that they have dropped their past six games against the spread versus BCS schools.

Four BCS opponents -- one of which was Oklahoma State -- scored at least 45 points against Florida Atlantic last season. The Owls do not see trifectas like QB Bobby Reid, tailback Dantrell Savage and wideout Adarius Bowman in the Sun Belt. The Cowboys will rebound from last week's loss at Georgia in a big way.

Last week against the spread: 4-1.

Texas-based handicapper Paul Stone of Vegas Sports Authority (vegassportsauthority.com) is providing weekly college football analysis for the Review-Journal.