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Though the 2019 college football season officially got underway Saturday, the real Week 1 begins Thursday night with a handful of games. The most compelling will reside inside Nippert Stadium, where Cincinnati plays host to UCLA.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN. If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
Hulu With Live TV comes with Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies and 60-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can sign up for Hulu with Live TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your Hulu credentials.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Sling TV’s “Sling Orange” bundle comes with 25-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can start a free seven-day trial of Sling TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the Sling TV app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your Sling TV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, cloud DVR is available as an add-on.
YouTube TV comes with 70-plus live TV channels, including ESPN.
You can sign up for YouTube TV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of the game on your computer via the YouTube website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other compatible streaming device via the YouTube app. You can also watch the game on the ESPN app if you sign in using your YouTube TV credentials.
If you can’t watch live, YouTube TV comes with included DVR.
UCLA vs Cincinnati Preview
Interestingly enough, UCLA is hoping to be this year’s Cincinnati.
After a 4-8 campaign in Luke Fickell’s first year as head coach in 2017, the Bearcats saw massive improvement last season. They went 11-2, capping the year off with a thrilling back-and-forth 35-31 win over Virginia Tech to finish the year ranked 24th. Both in terms of wins and final ranking, it was the school’s most successful season since Brian Kelly’s last year as head coach.
Meanwhile, the Bruins’ 2018 looked a lot like Cincinnati’s 2017. Chip Kelly’s first year in Westwood went about as poorly as could have been expected, as his young team started 0-5 and finished with the school’s lowest winning percentage (3-9; .250) in 47 years.
Fortunately for UCLA, the only real direction to go from here is up. And it’s easy to see improvement coming fairly quickly.
Offensively, the Bruins return four of five offensive linemen, running back Joshua Kelley is back after tallying 1,436 yards from scrimmage and 12 scores last year, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who was thrown into the fire as a true freshman last season, will be much more comfortable in Kelly’s offense.
“Just the way he talks now and the way he kind of carries himself,” said linebacker Krys Barnes, “there’s a demeanor of, OK, I know what I’ve got to do, I know what will get us there.”
That said, it’s a difficult start to the season for the Bruins. While Cincinnati won 11 games last year, they are still very much in the middle of a youth movement and could see even more improvement in 2019.
Dual-threat quarterback Desmond Ridder threw for 2,445 yards and 20 touchdowns, adding 583 yards and five scores on the ground last year. He’s only a redshirt sophomore. Running back Michael Warren II piled on 1,561 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns last year. He’s only a junior. Five of the six players who caught at least 20 balls last year are also back.
Defensively, the Bearcats are losing three all-conference players from the line, but they still have a lot of talented pieces from a defense that ranked in the Top 20 nationally in points allowed per game, yards allowed per game and yards allowed per play. They also have an All-American at punter in Australian James Smith, which only further helps the defense.
Cincinnati fell short of a preseason Top 25 ranking, but they should still be very good in 2019.
The oddsmakers seem to like to UCLA’s chances of improvement a little more, though. The Bearcats, who won last year’s matchup in Pasadena by nine, are favored by only three at home on Thursday night.