Kickoff: Thursday, 10:00 p.m. ET
Line: Arizona State -5.5, Total: 59.5

Thursday night will be a huge night in determining the Pac-12 conference, as No. 11 UCLA travels to Tempe to take on No. 15 Arizona State.

Here is the BetDSI Sportsbook betting preview for this matchup:

Quarterback play is big in any game, but it may be even more important on Thursday night. In a 20-17 victory against Texas on Sept. 13, Bruins star QB Brett Hundley left the game early with an arm injury, but Jerry Neuheisel was able to come in and get the victory for the team. Right now, UCLA has not commented on who will be the starting quarterback in this game. However, for Arizona State, QB Taylor Kelly will not start after suffering a foot injury. That means junior QB Mike Bercovici will get the start for the Sun Devils. While the Bruins (0-3 ATS) have not been dominant early in the season, winning all three of their games by a combined 18 points, the Sun Devils (1-2 ATS) have done a good job of taking care of business by winning all three of their games by at least 14 points. This series has been tight since 1992 with ASU holding a 10-9 SU advantage, and UCLA having the 9-8-2 ATS edge. The Sun Devils hold a 5-3 SU edge at home in this timeframe with the clubs splitting the games 4-4 ATS. The past three meetings have been decided by a total of eight points with the Bruins winning 29-28 in 2011 and 45-43 in 2012 before falling at home to ASU last year, 38-33. This series also has led to a lot of high-scoring games, as 11 of the past 17 meetings have finished Over the total. While UCLA is 49-31 ATS (61%) in September games since 1992, Arizona State's Todd Graham is 9-0 ATS as a home underdog of seven points or less as a college head coach. Bruins LB Myles Jack (ankle) and Sun Devils DB Ezekiel Bishop (undisclosed) headline the list of players who are questionable for this game.

Which Pac-12 team will pick up the crucial victory on Thursday night? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. The experts went a combined 10-7 ATS (59%) last week, highlighted by StatFox Scott's 3-1 ATS mark and StatFox Gary's 2-1 ATS record.

The Bruins were able to find out they have a quality backup after QB Jerry Neuheisel’s performance against Texas when he completed 23-of-30 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns. While he showed he can win, going on the road in conference play is much more difficult. If QB Brett Hundley (686 pass yards, 8.5 YPA, 3 TD, 1 INT) is unable to go for the Bruins, they lose a guy at the quarterback position who can make plays with both his arm and his legs (74 rush yards, 1 TD). If Neuheisel is playing quarterback, that means UCLA will have to get a big performance from RB Paul Perkins (304 rush yards, 4.8 YPC, 2 TD). Perkins also does a nice job of catching the ball out in the flat with nine grabs for 80 yards this season. The air attack of UCLA has been strong this year with 288.0 passing YPG (32nd in nation), but the ground game must continue to improve upon its 159.0 rushing YPG (73rd in FBS). Whoever is playing quarterback will have a talented wide receiver to throw to in Jordan Payton (19 catches, 266 yards, 1 TD). He is a big, athletic receiver that is not scared to go over the middle, and was the target that Neuheisel connected with to win the game with 3:00 remaining versus Texas. Like the offense, there is a lot of talent on the defensive side of the ball, but this unit has had its struggles as well. The Bruins rank 60th in FBS in points allowed (24.0 PPG), but a big portion of that was given up against Memphis in a 42-35 win on Sept. 6. LB Myles Jack (26 tackles, 2 PD) is one of the elite players in all of the country, but he injured his ankle in the Texas game, and like with Hundley, the Bruins have not said what his status is for Thursday. LB Erik Kendricks (37 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT) is the leading tackler on the UCLA defense.

For the Sun Devils, who have the No. 7 scoring offense in the nation (47.0 PPG), adjusting to life without QB Taylor Kelly (625 pass yards, 168 rush yards, 7 total TD) won't be easy. Kelly is similar to Hundley in that he can make plays in all areas of the game. While QB Mike Bercovici (14-for-24, 112 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT in career) does not have a lot of experience, he does have one of the elite ball carriers in the country on his team in RB D.J. Foster (510 rush yards, 9.4 YPC, 5 TD). Foster is a threat every time he touches the ball, and he can also create a lot of havoc in the screen game as well. At wide receiver, the Sun Devils have another one of the top FBS players in junior WR Jaelen Strong (19 catches, 266 yards, 2 TD). At 6-foot-3 and 212 pounds, he is a matchup nightmare at the position. He is too big and strong for corners, but ASU can line him in the slot, where he will run away from safeties. For Bercovici being inexperienced, he will look for Strong early and often in this game. DB Damarious Randall (26 tackles) is the leading tackler on the 38th-ranked scoring defense (20.3 PPG) in the country. Like the Sun Devils offense, the defense is a unit that relies heavily on speed. DB Jordan Simone had an interception in the win against Colorado, and these guys will have to be ready to defend against Payton as one of their mates in the secondary, DB Ezekiel Bishop, may be out due to injury.