ESPN’s College GameDay panel likes UCLA to pull an upset this weekend in Salt Lake City.

The crew was nearly unanimous in picking the 22nd-ranked Bruins to beat the 11th-ranked Utes on Saturday in the start of Pac-12 play. Both teams enter the game unbeaten, but Utah isn’t close to full strength.

Here’s how the crew picked:

  • Desmond Howard: Utah
  • Pat McAfee: UCLA
  • Vince Vaughn (guest picker): UCLA
  • Lee Corso: UCLA
  • Kirk Herbtstreit: UCLA

“They’ve got a true freshman quarterback in Dante Moore who has been lights out. Going on the road. We’ll see how he’ll play. But I think it’s the UCLA defense that wins this football game,” Herbstreit said. “Chip Kelly has the team. No one talks about this — they run for 270 a game and they play great defense. They’ve become a line-of-scrimmage team this season. I think that’ll show today.”

The Bruins rank fifth nationally in defensive efficiency, yielding just 3.9 yards per play. Laiatu Latu has already collected 5.5 tackles for loss while Gabriel Murphy and Darius Muasau have each added four.

The front has been able to effectively slow down every offense it has faced, but Utah will be the toughest test yet.

Plus, Utah hasn’t lost a football game at Rice-Eccles Stadium since Dec. 5, 2020. It’s a streak of 16 consecutive wins. Only one visiting team has beaten Utah at home in the last 28 tries.

UCLA will try for exactly that.

Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. PT on FOX.