The 2020 UCLA Bruins football team represented the University of California, Los Angeles during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by third-year head coach Chip Kelly and competed as members of the Pac-12 Conference in the South Division.
On August 11, the Pac-12 Conference initially canceled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 24, the conference announced that a six-game conference-only season would begin on November 6, with the Pac-12 Championship Game to be played December 18. Teams not selected for the championship game would be seeded to play a seventh game.
On December 17, with a 3âÂÂ3 record and one game left to play, the program announced that they would decline any invitation to a bowl game. The Bruins lost their final game, finishing their season with a 3âÂÂ4 record. The combined deficit in their four defeats was only 15 points, including a one-point loss to Stanford in double overtime, 48âÂÂ47, in the season finale.
Overall on the season, the Bruins outscored their opponents by a total of 248 to 215.
On August 5, 2020, the Los Angeles County Health Director announced that eight UCLA football players tested positive for COVID-19.
The Preseason Media poll shows the Bruins at 4th place in the South Division.
UCLA's 2020 regular season was announced on January 16. The Bruins had games scheduled against New Mexico State, Hawaii, and San Diego State, but canceled these games on July 10 due to the Pac-12 Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On November 13, UCLA's scheduled home game against Utah was canceled after a COVID-19 outbreak within the Utah program. The same day, the Pac-12 announced UCLA would instead host California the morning of November 15; the Golden Bears' scheduled game at Arizona State had also been canceled after Arizona State had a COVID-19 outbreak. UCLA's game at Oregon was moved by a day to Saturday, November 21, to accommodate the other changes.
While UCLA attempted a valiant second-half comeback, their four turnovers in the first half proved too much to overcome and the Bruins were defeated, 48âÂÂ42.
On December 6, UCLA received a vote in the AP Poll for the first time since 2017.