UCLA football coach Chip Kelly’s sixth year leading the Bruins will be his first without quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and on Wednesday he learned the path he will have to navigate with whoever wins the offseason QB competition.
The Bruins will not play three consecutive nonconference home games to open the season for the first time since 2020.
UCLA will begin the season against Coastal Carolina at the Rose Bowl before traveling to play San Diego State, for the first time since 2019, at Snapdragon Stadium.
The Bruins will host North Carolina Central to close the nonconference slate. It will be the second consecutive year and just the second time in program history that UCLA will play a historically black college.
The Bruins will travel to Utah for their final Pac-12 opener before moving to the Big Ten Conference in 2024.
Utah is the two-time defending conference championship but did suffer a loss to the Bruins in Pasadena last season. The Bruins have not won a game in Salt Lake City since 2015.
UCLA will have a bye week before playing the final eight games of the season beginning with Washington State and Oregon State.
The Cougars and Beavers are on the Bruins’ schedule for the first time since the 2019 season – instead of Oregon and Washington. UCLA will also face three Pac-12 teams with new head coaches: Stanford (Troy Taylor), Colorado (Deion Sanders) and Arizona State (Kenny Dillingham).
The season will conclude with games against crosstown USC at the Coliseum and Cal at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA has played Cal every year since 1933, but this could be the final meeting between the two teams for some time, as the Golden Bears will remain in the Pac-12.
The Pac-12 Championship Game is scheduled for Dec. 1 or 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
2023 UCLA football schedule:
Sept. 2: vs. Coastal Carolina
Sept. 9: at San Diego State
Sept. 16: vs. North Carolina Central
Sept. 23: at Utah
Sept. 30: BYE WEEK
Oct. 7: vs. Washington State
Oct. 14: at Oregon State
Oct. 21: at Stanford
Oct. 28: vs. Colorado
Nov. 4: at Arizona
Nov. 11: vs. Arizona State
Nov. 18: at USC
Nov. 25: vs. Cal
Dec. 1 or 2: Pac-12 Championship
Game times will be announced at a later date.
