College football upset picks: Alabama and 5 teams on upset alert in Week 5

College football upset pick No. 2: UCLA Bruins

Rank: 20 | Opponent: Arizona State Sun Devils | Time: Saturday, Oct. 2, 10:30 p.m. ET

Hats off to Chip Kelly and UCLA for a strong bounce-back performance last week. After falling in a heartbreaker to Fresno State, I put them on upset alert for a road game against a sneaky Stanford team that might be able to catch them. The Bruins played like a team that knew it was a prove-it spot as they came up with a decisive road victory.

The tests, however, don’t stop there. Now, UCLA has to welcome the other top contender in the Pac-12 South, the Arizona State Sun Devils, on Saturday night and this game could be quite wild.

Arizona State is coming off of a bounce-back performance of their own, beating the brakes off of Colorado last week after falling to BYU in their previous game. But what the Sun Devils did against the Buffaloes should concern UCLA. Colorado thrives in the run game but ASU limited them to just 4.2 yards per carry and continued to be a clamp-down pass defense as well.

With how reliant the Bruins are on their rushing attack and with the still-mistake-prone nature of Dorian Thompson-Robinson in the passing game, Arizona State’s defense could be a tough, tough matchup for UCLA to contend with. The Sun Devils certainly need Jayden Daniels to play smart, efficient football in his own right, which is not a guarantee, but their defense gives them a chance to take full control of the division.