The month of September will let UCLA’s football team knowhow it measures up nationally and in the Pac-12.

The Bruins travel to Texas A&M on Sept. 3, the Saturday before Labor Day, and return home to the Rose Bowl to play UNLV on Sept. 10.

They are on the road against BYU on Sept. 17 and home to play defending Pac-12 champion Stanford on Sept. 24.
The bad news: If UCLA is not ready to play at a high level, it could be 1-3 after September.

The good news: They have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Josh Rosen. If Rosen had been eligible for the draft, he probably would have been the first quarterback taken.

The Bruins will have to rely on a defense that returns eight starters from who last year prevented three opponents from breaking the end zone. Last time UCLA did that was in 1988.

If the defense remains as dominant and the offense avoid the plague of turnovers, the Bruins can improve on last year’s 8-5 record.

Mr. Finley may be contacted at sfinley50@aol.com