These players will dominate at the 2023 LA Bowl between UCLA and Boise State

After a tumultuous decision process to determine whether or not Boise State would have the opportunity to even play in the Mountain West conference championship game, the Broncos proved their superiority with a massive 44-20 win over the UNLV Rebels. Now, they get their biggest test, a date with the UCLA Bruins in the LA Bowl.

The UCLA Bruins won't have to travel very far for their 2023 bowl game. The game's location, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California is less than 25 miles from the Rose Bowl. That said, the Bruins have not been particularly great at home this year. UCLA has lost each of their last two games at home and only put up 14 points combined in those games, suffering embarrassing losses to Cal and Arizona State. Obviously, SoFi Stadium is not the Bruins' actual home field, but it may as well be with Boise State traveling across multiple states for the game.

Boise State is on a hot streak. They have won four straight games and have scored over 40 points in three of those games. They also have not allowed a single opponent to score more than 20 points in any game during their win streak. Of course, they have not faced a team from a Power 5 conference in that span though.

Depending on whether or not Chip Kelly and the rest of the UCLA coaching staff has figured their offense out over the last three weeks will determine whether or not this will be a shootout or a one-sided battle. Here are the players to watch out for in this game.

Heat check: College football bowl game rankings: The 41 postseason matchups from best to worst

Players to look out for at the 2023 LA Bowl - UCLA vs. Boise State:

UCLA RB TJ Harden

Harden may not be the leading rusher or touchdown scorer on the UCLA roster this season. That said, the team leader, Carson Steele hasn't found the endzone once since the team's Oct. 21 win over Stanford. Harden meanwhile has picked up as the season has worn on, and now, when the Bruins are clicking, Harden seems to be the one in the endzone. He's like the David Montgomery to Steele's Jahmyr Gibbs. They pair perfectly together.

Harden has scored in all but one game this season where the Bruins scored 20 or more points. Boise State doesn't have a particularly great defense. UCLA should have no trouble moving the ball effectively, so count on Harden to find the endzone once more on Dec. 16.

Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty

You can't say "Boise State" and "touchdown" in the same sentence without mentioning Ashton Jeanty. 19 touchdowns in 13 games. Yeah, it doesn't matter how bad the odds are on this man, you are adding an anytime TD for him to your parlay.

There were just two games all year where Jeanty did not score for the Broncos. He had three games with three or more touchdowns. HE HAD MORE GAMES WITH THREE OR MORE TOUCHDOWNS THAN GAMES WITH ZERO TOUCHDOWNS! Jeanty is almost assuredly going to find the endzone once, but we shouldn't be shocked if he finds paydirt two or three times in this one.

Boise State QB CJ Tiller

Tiller's inclusion on this list is less of a "he's going to dominate" and more of a "My word, what a moment to make your first career start in"-type of addition. After a litany of injuries at the quarterback position and watching Taylen Green head off via the transfer portal, the onus of signal-caller has fallen to freshman CJ Tiller, who played just two snaps all year. The UCLA defense is the best part of their team, and while the Bruins' offense has not scored more than seven points in two of their last three games. There could be serious doubt in the Boise State locker room on whether or not they can match even that. Tiller is a talented, pro-style quarterback, but I do not envy the pressure he is under with the LA Bowl being his first career college start.

How to watch the 2023 LA Bowl

The Los Angeles Bowl is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on December 16. The game will air on ABC. If you are looking to stream the game, it can be found on Fubo TV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream.

College Football news: LSU's Jayden Daniels headlines the USA TODAY Sports college football All-America team

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA Bowl: 3 players who will dominate UCLA vs. Boise State