UCLA At 3-0: No. 19 Bruins Have Reasons For Excitement, Room For Improvement

The UCLA Bruins are 3-0 and No. 19 in the top 25. They showed a lot to be excited about in the 37-6 win over Houston, but there are plenty of opportunities for improvement.

UCLA Vs. Houston Reaction: 'What A Difference A Year Makes'

The Bruins exacted some revenge against the Houston Cougars for last season's four-point loss with a 37-6 shellacking on Saturday. And in the words of Bruins Nation, "what a difference a year makes."

Bruins Nation had to give credit to a new coaching staff making all the difference in a Bruins team that is playing with a newly found swagger and confidence not seen in recent years.

Bruins Nation still recognized that it was a flawed victory, even though the margin of victory was what any team would want. The offense turned the ball over too much, the offensive line struggled and the rest of the offense had its moments as well. But with a defense only giving up six points, you have to take it as it comes. It's another win for the Bruins and more momentum moving forward.

Bruins Nation will take that.

For more on UCLA football, check out Bruins Nation.

UCLA Vs. Houston Game Recap: Bruins Cage Cougars, 37-6

Now it's official, the UCLA Bruins have a better record than their rivals from down the road. No. 22 UCLA continues to prove that they aren't a fluke by beating the University of Houston Cougars, 37-6. This gives the Bruins their third straight win in the Jim Mora era.

The surprising UCLA offense is lead by Freshman quarterback Brett Hundley. He was 27-for-42 in the game with 320 yards passing and two touchdowns. According to UCLA Gameday, Hundley is the first freshman in Bruins history to have back-to-back 300-plus yard games.

Another record set tonight was by running back Johnathan Franklin. He is now the second leading rusher in UCLA history behind Gaston Green. Franklin came into tonight's game with 3,100 yards and left with an additional 110 yards on 25 attempts. At this pace, Franklin could easily beat Green's record of 3,731 yards before the end of the season.

It just keeps getting better for UCLA. Next week they welcome the Oregon State Beavers to the Rose Bowl. OSU (1-0) will be coming off of their bye-week.

Celebrate with other Bruins fans at Bruins Nation and right at SB Nation Los Angeles.

Johnathan Franklin Becomes 2nd Leading Rusher In UCLA History, Passing 5 Bruins

The city of Los Angeles has been abuzz about a leading candidate for the 2012 Heisman Trophy, but maybe the focus was on the wrong part of town. UCLA Bruins running back Johnathan Franklin continued his stellar senior campaign on Saturday and became the second leading rusher in school history.

Franklin ran for 110 yards on 25 carries on Saturday as the No. 22 Bruins throttled the Houston Cougars 37-6 at the Rose Bowl. Franklin entered the game seventh on the UCLA all-time rushing list, but is now second, trailing only Gaston Green.

On the season, Franklin has rushed for 541 yards in three games, with three touchdowns.

For more news and notes on UCLA football, be sure to read Bruins Nation.

UCLA vs. Houston Score Update: Bruins Blanking Cougars, 17-0 At Halftime

It's been a pretty good night so far for the UCLA Bruins. First their hated enemy from down the road is upset at Stanford. Now they're up on the University of Houston Cougars, 17-0 at the half. The Bruins are looking to go up 3-0 under new head coach Jim Mora.

Freshman quarterback Brett Hundley continues to bring hope back to Westwood. He was 19-for-29 at the half with 211 yards throwing. Hundley's favorite target appears to be Steven Manfro with six catches for 72 yards. The quarterback needs a little help from his offensive line after being sacked twice for a total loss of 17 yards.

A key for UCLA coming into this game was keeping their penalty totals down. Through the half, they've been called for two penalties, netting 15 yards. Houston hasn't been so lucky. They have earned six penalties for 44 yards.

With a win in this game, UCLA will have something they haven't had in a few years - a better record than USC.

If you need more UCLA Bruins talk, head on over to Bruins Nation or stick right here at SB Nation Los Angeles.

UCLA Vs. Houston Preview: Breakdown Of The Cougars' Offense And Defense

Ranked for the first time since 2007, UCLA heads to Houston looking to prove that their new era is for real with a dominant win over the Cougars. SB Nation's UCLA blog Bruins Nation has an in-depth look at the Cougar offense and defense, highlighting keys to the game for the Bruins.

On offense, they highlight Houston's potential for explosive offense:

Losing the NCAA's all-time passing leader in [Case] Keenum is a big loss, but So. Dave Piland (6'3 192 lbs.) should be just fine. He played as a true freshman after Keenum and then back-up Cotton Turner suffered injuries, throwing for roughly 330 ypg including 24 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He redshirted last season, watching Keenum break records in the process. This year, Piland has taken all the snaps, and has 791 passing yards with 5 touchdowns and only 1 interception.

Check out the full offensive breakdown for much much more. With Houston's defense, they highlight the linebacking corps:

Overall, it's a small, quick unit that relies on speed over power. While the numbers have not been great this year, this is a unit with good physical ability and lateral quickness. The leader of the unit is Sr. Phillip Steward (6'2 220 lbs.), who will play on the strongside. Steward is second on the team with 26 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss. He's good in coverage too, as evidenced by last year's 6 interceptions to go along with his 77 tackles. On the weakside, So. Derrick Matthews (6'0 207 lbs.) starts and is backed up by Jr. George Bamfo (5'11 211 lbs.). Matthews leads the team in tackles with 27, and also has 7 tackles for loss and 2 sacks.

The defensive line, secondary, and special teams are all discussed in the full post.

Stick with this StoryStream for updates, scores and more from UCLA's Week 3 game vs. Houston. For more insight and analysis, check out UCLA blog Bruins Nation.

Houston Vs. UCLA 2012: Game Time, TV Schedule, Odds And More

For the first time since September 2008, the UCLA Bruins are back in the AP Poll after an impressive 36-30 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers to keep themselves undefeated for the season.

The Houston Cougars haven't been nearly as fortunate, losing each of their first two games against Texas State and Louisiana Tech at home, despite being favored in each matchup. Now against a much better opponent, Houston will be huge underdogs when they travel to Southern California to face No. 22 UCLA.

Worth noting too is that UCLA's last appearance in the polls came a few weeks into Rick Neuheisel's first season with the team and their first appearance since comes during Jim Mora's first month as head coach of the Bruins.

Game time/date: 7:30 p.m. PT, Saturday, Sept. 15

Location: Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA

TV: Pac-12 Networks

Odds: UCLA opened as 18-point favorites and is currently at 17-point favorites.

Matchup History: Series tied, 3-3

Stick with SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the upcoming UCLA vs. Houston game, or head over to Bruins Nation for complete coverage of UCLA athletics.

That's Mora Like It: UCLA Facing Heightened Expectations After Fast Start

The new regime in Westwood has the Bruins off to a roaring start. Now the challenge is to handle success.

UCLA Vs. Houston: Bruins More Than Just Johnathan Franklin

The UCLA Bruins are looking to build on a great start to their 2012 season, largely in part to the success of running back Johnathan Franklin. But when asked about the Bruins' being a one-man show on Tuesday, head coach Jim Mora was quick to point out that it is a much more complex team than people think.

"Here's the thing though, Johnathan has had two great games, and Johnathan will be the first to tell you that it's because of the blocking from the offensive line, the blocking downfield from the receivers, it's the success of the passing game that has opened some things up for him. But two games in a row now we found eight different receivers...so it's not like it's a one man show here.

We're spreading the ball around a lot, it's just that Johnathan is doing some special things right now."

Franklin is currently the nation's leading rusher, averaging 2.15 yards per game through two games thus far. His rushing average is currently higher than 90 FBS schools.

You can check out Coach Mora's complete interview below:

For more in depth discussion and top notch analysis of the UCLA Bruins, please make your way over to Bruins Nation and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Johnathan Franklin Named UCLA Student-Athlete Of Week, Again

UCLA Bruins senior running back Johnathan Franklin was named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for Sept. 4-9 for his outstanding performance against the Nebraska Cornhuskers last weekend.

Franklin set a new career high after rushing for 217 yards during the Bruins' 36-30 victory over Nebraska, setting another career high in catches (3) and receiving yards (59) while scoring a touchdown as well.

His great game bumped him to 3,100 career yards, placing him seventh on the all-time school rushing list. It was his 12th career game with over 100 yards rushing, while also became the third Bruin running back to record at least three 200-yard rushing games. UCLA legends Gaston Green (1985-1986-1987) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had three in a row during 1995, are the other two.

This is Franklin's second consecutive UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week honor of the season and his fourth overall.

For more on the Bruins, head over to Bruins Nations and SB Nation Los Angeles.

Matt Barkley, Johnathan Franklin Highlight College Football Week 2

UCLA Bruins Ranked For First Time Since 2007

The UCLA Bruins leapt into all the major rankings after their big Week 2 36-30 upset of then-No. 16 Nebraska.

The Bruins are No. 22 in the AP Top 25, No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and garnered their highest ranking in SBNation's BlogPoll at number 20.

It is the first time the Bruins football squad has been ranked in any of the major polls since 2007.

Coach Jim Mora tried to downplay the significance of cracking the rankings on Sunday.

Polls are not something I have thought about, nor will I think about. There is no significance to being ranked after two weeks.

The Bruins were the biggest gainers in the Week 3 BlogPoll, jumping 21 spots, with some disagreement amongst the blogging community where they belong as they had a standard deviation of 4.74 spots.

Results for Week 2

#	School	Points/blog	SD	Delta
1	Alabama Crimson Tide (88)	24.90	0.46	--
2	LSU Tigers (2)	22.93	2.33	1
3	USC Trojans (3)	21.93	4.41	-1
4	Oregon Ducks	20.89	4.16	--
5	Georgia Bulldogs	19.16	2.38	3
6	Florida St. Seminoles	17.45	6.06	-1
7	Oklahoma Sooners	17.00	5.38	--
8	Michigan St. Spartans	16.99	2.84	1
9	West Virginia Mountaineers	16.33	4.98	-3
10	Clemson Tigers	15.49	3.49	--
11	South Carolina Gamecocks	14.80	4.78	1
12	Kansas St. Wildcats	12.56	4.05	8
13	Ohio St. Buckeyes (1)	12.48	5.44	1
14	Virginia Tech Hokies	11.99	3.84	2
15	Texas Longhorns	11.01	4.25	3
16	TCU Horned Frogs	7.94	4.78	6
17	Florida Gators	6.77	4.55	10
18	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	6.66	4.71	3
19	Louisville Cardinals	5.98	3.80	4
20	UCLA Bruins	5.90	4.74	21
21	Michigan Wolverines	5.34	4.44	-2
22	Stanford Cardinal	5.07	4.85	3
23	Arizona Wildcats	4.90	4.99	--
24	Tennessee Volunteers	3.97	4.49	--
25	Ohio Bobcats	1.61	3.22	1
Others Receiving Votes: BYU Cougars | Oregon St. Beavers | Baylor Bears | ULM Warhawks | Mississippi St. Bulldogs | Arizona St. Sun Devils | Boise St. Broncos | Nebraska Cornhuskers | Northwestern Wildcats | Utah State Aggies | Arkansas Razorbacks | Iowa St. Cyclones | Wisconsin Badgers | Oklahoma St. Cowboys | Cincinnati Bearcats | Air Force Falcons | South Florida Bulls | Central Florida Knights | Texas Tech Red Raiders | Louisiana Ragin Cajuns | Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets | Wake Forest Demon Deacons | Duke Blue Devils | Rice Owls | Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders | Rutgers Scarlet Knights | Miami Hurricanes | North Carolina Tar Heels | N.C. State Wolfpack
Updated: Sep 11, 2012 7:00 AM PDT

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Rankings 2011

Five Pac-12 schools are represented in this week's BlogPoll rankings, with the Bruins sitting smack dab in the middle. The Stanford Cardinal and Arizona Wildcats are right on their heels at No. 21 and 22. The USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks are a bit out of reach at No. 3 and No. 4.

Stick with SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the upcoming UCLA vs. Houston game, or head over to Bruins Nation for complete coverage of UCLA athletics.

UCLA Vs. Houston: Bruins Depth Chart For Saturday

The UCLA Bruins will look to keep a hot start going this Saturday, as they host the Houston Cougars in the Rose Bowl. UCLA has announced tentative starters for the nonconference contest, in which the Bruins are favored by 16.5 points.

Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week Johnathan Franklin will start in the backfield alongside quarterback Brett Hundley and fullback David Allen. Jerry Johnson, Joseph Fauria and Steven Manfro will start at receiver. The offensive line will all make its third start together as a unit, as Torian White, Xavier Su'a-Filo, Jake Brendel, Jeff Baca and Simon Goines look to pave more holes for Franklin and keep Hundley upright.

Datone Jones, Seali'i Epenesa and Cassius Marsh will all make their third start of the season on the defensive line. Jordan Zumwalt and Anthony Barr are the starting outside linebackers, and Eric Kendricks and Damien Holmes start on the inside. Seniors Sheldon Price, Andrew Abbott and Aaron Hester start alongside Tevin McDonald in the secondary.

Stick with SB Nation Los Angeles for more on the upcoming UCLA vs. Houston game, or head over to Bruins Nation for complete coverage of UCLA athletics.

UCLA's Johnathan Franklin Named Pac-12 Offensive Player Of The Week

UCLA Vs. Houston Odds: Bruins Favored By 16.5 Over Cougars

The UCLA Bruins are the favorites in their upcoming matchup with the Houston Cougars. The line opened at UCLA -18 and has since moved to UCLA -16.5. UCLA is 2-0 following an opening week victory over the Rice Owls and a Week 2 upset over the then-No. 16 Nebraska Cornhuskers.