After suffering a dramatic loss in their final game at the Rose Bowl, the once-again-unranked UCLA Bruins football team traveled out to Salt Lake City, Utah to take on the 13th-ranked Utah Utes. This is the farthest that the Bruins football team traveled this season. This is a key game for both UCLA and Utah, as this is an elimination game for the Pac-12 South. The losing team would have no chance at winning the Pac-12 South Division, while the winner will probably be the team heading up to Santa Clara for the Pac-12 Championship. If UCLA beats Utah, the Bruins and the Utes would share the same in-conference record, but the Bruins would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Utah. Utah already lost to USC, UCLA's opponent after this game, so this would crush the Utes' hopes for the Pac-12 South Division title. Earlier this season, both teams were contenders for the College Football Playoff, as UCLA got as high as 7th in the top 25 while Utah managed to crack the top four, sitting as high as #3. When the Utes reached a 6-0 record, they were thought to be the real #1 in the country, until they lost at USC. The main thing that propelled the Utes so high in the polls was their 4th win of the season, a 62-20 laugher at then-13th-ranked Oregon.
Last week, the Utes were stunned at Arizona 37-30 in double overtime. UCLA blew out Arizona earlier this season 56-30. After being tied 27-27 with the Wildcats throughout the fourth quarter, Utah kicked a field goal in the first overtime. Arizona responded with just that. After Arizona scored a touchdown in the second overtime, the Utes and quarterback Travis Wilson were halted on 4th down on Arizona's 17-yard line.
Utah first gained national attention when they shocked then-#8 UCLA 30-28 in their previous meeting at the Rose Bowl last year. Utah was coming off of an embarrassing 28-27 to Washington State in Salt Lake City while UCLA was coming off of a 62-27 blowout win against then-#15 Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona. After #2 Oregon suffered a loss 31-24 to Arizona in Oregon, UCLA was favored to win the Pac-12 and even win the College Football Playoff. This was a day of shocking upsets, including #11 Ole Miss' 23-17 win against #3 Alabama, Arizona State's last-second 38-34 Hail Mary victory against #16 USC, #25 TCU's 37-33 shocker against #4 Oklahoma, Northwestern's 20-14 stunner against #17 Wisconsin, Utah State's 35-20 beating of #18 BYU, and #12 Mississippi State's 48-31 whopping of #6 Texas A&M.
UCLA was one of the last teams to play that evening. Utah led 17-7 at halftime against the 8th-ranked Bruins. UCLA surged, creating a 28-27 lead in the fourth quarter. But with 38 seconds left, Utah kicked a field goal to take a 30-28 lead. Looking for last hopes, UCLA tried to kick a 55-yard field goal. It missed, but Utah was penalized, giving the Bruins a second chance, Ka'imi Fairbairn's 50-yard field goal attempt was 2 inches away from going through the uprights, as UCLA lost to the Utes.
This year, things had changed. Utah star running back Devontae Booker was injured for the game and had to go through meniscus surgery. He will miss the rest of Utah's regular season, which isn't so long. After this game, Utah will need to play against Colorado, whom UCLA defeated 35-31 at the Rose Bowl on Halloween. Even though UCLA's defense has suffered many injuries with their starters (Myles Jack, Eddie Vanderdoes, Fabian Moreau, Mossi Johnson), they still remain formidable. Star Linebacker Isaako Savaiinaea was questionable after missing out in the Colorado, Oregon State, and Washington State.
In the first quarter, the Bruins scored on their first drive to take a 7-0 lead. Quarterback Josh Rosen threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Thomas Duarte for the score. After Utah backup running back Joe Williams fumbled the ball on UCLA's 14-yard line (recovered by UCLA's Randall Goforth), UCLA kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked a 33-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0. Utah kicked two field goals in the second quarter to go into halftime. UCLA led 10-6, despite being out-gained 114-35 by the Utes in rushing yards.
In the second quarter, Utah kicked another field goal to lower the deficit to 1. The score was 10-9 UCLA. However, on UCLA's next drive, the Bruins scored a touchdown on a 2-yard rush by running back Paul Perkins. This made the score 17-9. In the fourth quarter, deep in Utah territory, Fairbairn barely missed a 48-yard field goal. This was the first time he missed a field goal since a missed 49-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter of UCLA's season opener against Virginia. The Bruins defense remained tough for the rest of the game. Later in the quarter, with 1 minute left in the game, Utes running back Joe Williams' elbow hit the football, causing quarterback Travis Wilson to drop the ball and fumble the snap. It was recovered by Bruins linebacker Jayon Brown. With 7 seconds left in the game, UCLA punted. Looking for last hopes, Utah defensive back Boobie Hobbs (Yes, it's this guy again like mentioned in my bye week post. DO NOT take any offense to this, girls.) tried to return it from Utah's 14-yard line. But he only got 4 extra yards on the return. The Bruins had stunned 13th-ranked Utah in Salt Lake City 17-9.
This was a wild day in college football, especially in the top 25. Fifth-ranked Iowa cruised past Purdue 40-20. Eighth-ranked Florida hung on in overtime to defeat Florida Atlantic 20-14. Twelfth-ranked Michigan defeated Penn State 28-16. Seventeenth-ranked North Carolina clinched a spot in the ACC championship after defeating Virginia Tech 30-27 in overtime. Temple surprised 21st-ranked Memphis 31-12. Number 14 Florida State cruised by Chattanooga 52-13. Top-ranked Clemson breezed by Wake Forest 33-13. Number 20 Northwestern held on to beat #25 Wisconsin 13-7 on a reversed touchdown call. Connecticut upended previously undefeated #19 Houston 20-17. Number 9 Michigan State granted #3 Ohio State their first conference loss since 2011 by kicking a last-second field goal to win 17-14. Number 22 Ole Miss clobbered #15 LSU (riding a 3-game losing streak now) 38-17. Number 23 Oregon crushed #24 USC 48-28 (huge crowd of Bruins cheer wildly :)). Number 2 Alabama defeated Charleston Southern 56-6. Number 16 Navy defeated Tulsa 44-21. Number 4 Notre Dame held off Boston College 19-16 at Fenway Park. Number 10 Baylor gave #6 Oklahoma State their first loss of the season 45-35. Number 7 Oklahoma took down #18 TCU 30-29. Finally, #11 Stanford clinched the Pac-12 North Division by defeating California 35-22.
UCLA leaped back into the College Football Playoff top 25 on Tuesday afternoon, now sitting at #22. Utah fell from 13th to 23rd, right behind the Bruins, and USC fell out of the top 25. While Utah is out of the running for the Pac-12 South, UCLA is one victory away from winning the division. The Bruins can seal the division by defeating crosstown rival USC next weekend at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (or as us Bruin fans like to call it, the Mausoleum). Both the Bruins and the Trojans are tied for first in the Pac-12 South. Both teams have defeated Utah, which is why the Utes are out of the division title. The winner of this game will go up to Santa Clara on Saturday December 5 to take on Stanford. The kickoff time for the crosstown rivalry game will be 12:30 PM Pacific Time. UCLA will be seeking its fourth straight win over USC while the Trojans look to rebound against the Bruins and win the Pac-12 South like they were favored to in the preseason. Beat SC and Gooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Part 10: Washington State vs. #19 UCLA
After completing their first shutout victory since 2007, the 19th-ranked UCLA Bruins returned home to the Rose Bowl for their final home game of the season. Due to Veterans' Day earlier in the week, UCLA players wore special USA-themed helmets to support Military Appreciation Day. Their foe was the Washington State Cougars, who are second in the Pac-12 North after defeating Arizona State 38-24 in Washington. Washington State started the season looking like a lousy team and probably had the worst start to the season amongst all of the Pac-12. They opened the season with a loss to a lower-division team. After two wins, the Cougars barely lost to then-24th-ranked California, whom UCLA blew out at the Rose Bowl. The Cougars rode a 3-game win streak before blowing a 43-yard field goal that could've beaten then-8th-ranked Stanford. They defeated Arizona State by two touchdowns the following weekend.
In the two teams' last meeting in 2012, then-18th-ranked UCLA defeated Washington State up in Washington 44-36. The Bruins and the Cougars were tied 7-7 until UCLA rocketed off by outscoring WSU 30-0 in the second quarter. The Cougars rallied, but did not have enough time to catch up to the Bruins. Former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley led the Bruins' offense by completing 18 of 21 passes for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Given that this is UCLA's final game at the Rose Bowl this season, vendors were selling trading cards with the information of each senior Bruin players' statistics over their college career at UCLA just outside of the stadium. Before this game, Fairbairn was one point short of breaking the UCLA record of "most points responsible for". He had his struggles early in his career. In his freshman year, he blew a 52-yard field goal that could've tied the score with Stanford in the 2012 Pac-12 Championship. Stanford won 27-24. In Fairbairn's junior year, he barely missed a 50-yard field goal that could've helped UCLA beat Utah. The Utes won 30-28. But this year, Fairbairn set two personal-best long field goals. He kicked a 53-yard field goal against Arizona State, whom UCLA lost to 38-23. Three weeks later, he kicked a 60-YARD FIELD GOAL against then-#20 California. This was the second longest field goal in Pac-12 history and the longest in UCLA history. UCLA went on to win that game 40-24.
In the first quarter, the Bruins managed to stop the Cougars' offense by pushing them back all the way to their own 3-yard line. The Bruins marched down the field to kick a 22-yard field goal and lead 3-0. This field goal by Ka'imi Fairbairn set the UCLA and Pac-12 records for "most points responsible for". Washington State scored a touchdown on their next drive to take a 7-3 lead. Again, the Bruins responded with a field goal. The score was 7-6. In the second quarter, UCLA scored their first touchdown of the game off of a 14-yard touchdown rush from sophomore running back Nate Starks. On the following drive, WSU quarterback Luke Falk was sacked and had to sit out for the rest of the half. Their backup QB, Peyton Bender threw a touchdown pass WSU receiver Dom Williams to take back the lead to 14-13. To go into halftime, Fairbairn kicked his third field goal of the night. The halftime score was 16-14 UCLA.
At halftime, all of the senior Bruins were honored as they came out onto the field with their parents. Senior players included wide receivers Devin Fuller and Jordan Payton, kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn, center Jake Brendel, punter Matt Mengel, backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel (all Bruin fans love this guy), and linebacker Aaron Wallace. After that, a 100-yard United States flag was spread out onto the field for Military Appreciation Day.
To start the third quarter, UCLA stalled on their first drive at their own 47-yard line. So they tried to send out junior wide receiver Kenneth Walker out onto the field to punt like he did against California. At first, it looked like a fake punt, but Walker decided at the last second to kick it away. The only problem was that the punt went sideways. So guess what? It was a ZERO-YARD PUNT. If people are wondering if that was even possible, well, now they know. Washington State took advantage of this and took the lead back 21-16. UCLA's next drive wasn't any help either. Wide receiver Darren Andrews fumbled the ball and it was recovered by WSU. The Cougars kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to lead 24-16. After a UCLA field goal, WSU was knocking on the door for a score, but Luke Falk was intercepted by Jaleel Wadood in the end zone. This led to a big scramble by UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen for a 37-yard rushing touchdown. This was Rosen's second career rushing touchdown and his longest run. The two-point conversion to junior tight end Thomas Duarte was successful and UCLA led 27-24 with 1 minute and 9 seconds left to go in the game. But WSU wasn't finished. The Cougars marched right down the field. Then, Luke Falk threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Gabe Marks with 3 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME. The score was 31-27. Trying to come back, Rosen scrambled for a while, but threw an incomplete pass, which sealed the game as UCLA suffered their third loss of the season and moved to 7-3 overall.
UCLA fans were very, very angry. After the game ended, all of the UCLA fans, myself included, were booing at the referees. The officiating was absolutely horrible. There were AT LEAST 10 HOLDING PENALTIES on Washington State that they did not call, yet they have a better view of the field than all of the fans. UCLA suffered 13 penalties for 75 yards. For Bruin fans, it is like every single penalty is on themselves and not the opponent. I am wondering, do the refs have something against us? Maybe that is so. UCLA should've won this game, but nope. The refs were helping Washington State. Even UCLA head coach Jim Mora got ticked off at the refs for not calling OBVIOUS HOLDING PENALTIES, throwing down his headset and screaming at them. I personally think that the conference should fire these officials because this isn't only happening to UCLA. Below the post is an example of one of the holding penalties that wasn't called by the officials. Arizona State lost to Oregon on a bad call earlier this year. An Oregon receiver barely stepped out of bounds in what the refs called a touchdown, which led to Oregon's 61-55 3OT victory against Arizona State. This has been an issue since I-don't-know-when. I personally think that Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott needs to fire these referees and hire new ones. The main reason why the Pac-12 has not lived up to expectations is the terrible officiating.
Speaking of the Pac-12 conference altogether, there is no chance at all that a Pac-12 team will make it to this year's College Football Playoff. Then-7th-ranked Stanford lost 38-36 to Oregon at Stanford. Then-#10 Utah lost at Arizona 37-30 in double overtime. Of course, as said in this blog earlier, then-#19 UCLA also lost. USC escaped Colorado 27-24 in Boulder, Colorado in freezing temperature, Arizona State defeated Washington 27-17 at Sun Devil Stadium, and California defeated Oregon State 54-24.
UCLA fell out of the top 25 once again on Tuesday evening. USC(24th) and Oregon(23rd) both joined the top 25, but will play an elimination game next Saturday in Oregon. Even with this awful loss, UCLA still has a decent chance to clinch the Pac-12 South. Utah lost to Arizona, giving the Utes their second loss in conference play. UCLA has three conference losses and USC has two. If UCLA beats both Utah and USC, the Bruins will own the tiebreaker over both teams. UCLA will play against 13th-ranked-Utah this Saturday on the road. This will be a tough game for both teams as this will be an elimination game for the Pac-12 South. The winner will probably go on to face Stanford, Washington State, or Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship. The loser will have no chance of going to the Pac-12 Championship. After this game, the Bruins will return to Los Angeles to challenge USC in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a rivalry game after Thanksgiving. Let's hope that the UCLA Bruins will recover from this heartbreaking loss to Washington State and defeat Utah and USC to head to the Pac-12 Championship. Gooooooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the two teams' last meeting in 2012, then-18th-ranked UCLA defeated Washington State up in Washington 44-36. The Bruins and the Cougars were tied 7-7 until UCLA rocketed off by outscoring WSU 30-0 in the second quarter. The Cougars rallied, but did not have enough time to catch up to the Bruins. Former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley led the Bruins' offense by completing 18 of 21 passes for 261 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Given that this is UCLA's final game at the Rose Bowl this season, vendors were selling trading cards with the information of each senior Bruin players' statistics over their college career at UCLA just outside of the stadium. Before this game, Fairbairn was one point short of breaking the UCLA record of "most points responsible for". He had his struggles early in his career. In his freshman year, he blew a 52-yard field goal that could've tied the score with Stanford in the 2012 Pac-12 Championship. Stanford won 27-24. In Fairbairn's junior year, he barely missed a 50-yard field goal that could've helped UCLA beat Utah. The Utes won 30-28. But this year, Fairbairn set two personal-best long field goals. He kicked a 53-yard field goal against Arizona State, whom UCLA lost to 38-23. Three weeks later, he kicked a 60-YARD FIELD GOAL against then-#20 California. This was the second longest field goal in Pac-12 history and the longest in UCLA history. UCLA went on to win that game 40-24.
In the first quarter, the Bruins managed to stop the Cougars' offense by pushing them back all the way to their own 3-yard line. The Bruins marched down the field to kick a 22-yard field goal and lead 3-0. This field goal by Ka'imi Fairbairn set the UCLA and Pac-12 records for "most points responsible for". Washington State scored a touchdown on their next drive to take a 7-3 lead. Again, the Bruins responded with a field goal. The score was 7-6. In the second quarter, UCLA scored their first touchdown of the game off of a 14-yard touchdown rush from sophomore running back Nate Starks. On the following drive, WSU quarterback Luke Falk was sacked and had to sit out for the rest of the half. Their backup QB, Peyton Bender threw a touchdown pass WSU receiver Dom Williams to take back the lead to 14-13. To go into halftime, Fairbairn kicked his third field goal of the night. The halftime score was 16-14 UCLA.
At halftime, all of the senior Bruins were honored as they came out onto the field with their parents. Senior players included wide receivers Devin Fuller and Jordan Payton, kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn, center Jake Brendel, punter Matt Mengel, backup quarterback Jerry Neuheisel (all Bruin fans love this guy), and linebacker Aaron Wallace. After that, a 100-yard United States flag was spread out onto the field for Military Appreciation Day.
To start the third quarter, UCLA stalled on their first drive at their own 47-yard line. So they tried to send out junior wide receiver Kenneth Walker out onto the field to punt like he did against California. At first, it looked like a fake punt, but Walker decided at the last second to kick it away. The only problem was that the punt went sideways. So guess what? It was a ZERO-YARD PUNT. If people are wondering if that was even possible, well, now they know. Washington State took advantage of this and took the lead back 21-16. UCLA's next drive wasn't any help either. Wide receiver Darren Andrews fumbled the ball and it was recovered by WSU. The Cougars kicked a field goal early in the fourth quarter to lead 24-16. After a UCLA field goal, WSU was knocking on the door for a score, but Luke Falk was intercepted by Jaleel Wadood in the end zone. This led to a big scramble by UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen for a 37-yard rushing touchdown. This was Rosen's second career rushing touchdown and his longest run. The two-point conversion to junior tight end Thomas Duarte was successful and UCLA led 27-24 with 1 minute and 9 seconds left to go in the game. But WSU wasn't finished. The Cougars marched right down the field. Then, Luke Falk threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to receiver Gabe Marks with 3 SECONDS LEFT IN THE GAME. The score was 31-27. Trying to come back, Rosen scrambled for a while, but threw an incomplete pass, which sealed the game as UCLA suffered their third loss of the season and moved to 7-3 overall.
UCLA fans were very, very angry. After the game ended, all of the UCLA fans, myself included, were booing at the referees. The officiating was absolutely horrible. There were AT LEAST 10 HOLDING PENALTIES on Washington State that they did not call, yet they have a better view of the field than all of the fans. UCLA suffered 13 penalties for 75 yards. For Bruin fans, it is like every single penalty is on themselves and not the opponent. I am wondering, do the refs have something against us? Maybe that is so. UCLA should've won this game, but nope. The refs were helping Washington State. Even UCLA head coach Jim Mora got ticked off at the refs for not calling OBVIOUS HOLDING PENALTIES, throwing down his headset and screaming at them. I personally think that the conference should fire these officials because this isn't only happening to UCLA. Below the post is an example of one of the holding penalties that wasn't called by the officials. Arizona State lost to Oregon on a bad call earlier this year. An Oregon receiver barely stepped out of bounds in what the refs called a touchdown, which led to Oregon's 61-55 3OT victory against Arizona State. This has been an issue since I-don't-know-when. I personally think that Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott needs to fire these referees and hire new ones. The main reason why the Pac-12 has not lived up to expectations is the terrible officiating.
Speaking of the Pac-12 conference altogether, there is no chance at all that a Pac-12 team will make it to this year's College Football Playoff. Then-7th-ranked Stanford lost 38-36 to Oregon at Stanford. Then-#10 Utah lost at Arizona 37-30 in double overtime. Of course, as said in this blog earlier, then-#19 UCLA also lost. USC escaped Colorado 27-24 in Boulder, Colorado in freezing temperature, Arizona State defeated Washington 27-17 at Sun Devil Stadium, and California defeated Oregon State 54-24.
UCLA fell out of the top 25 once again on Tuesday evening. USC(24th) and Oregon(23rd) both joined the top 25, but will play an elimination game next Saturday in Oregon. Even with this awful loss, UCLA still has a decent chance to clinch the Pac-12 South. Utah lost to Arizona, giving the Utes their second loss in conference play. UCLA has three conference losses and USC has two. If UCLA beats both Utah and USC, the Bruins will own the tiebreaker over both teams. UCLA will play against 13th-ranked-Utah this Saturday on the road. This will be a tough game for both teams as this will be an elimination game for the Pac-12 South. The winner will probably go on to face Stanford, Washington State, or Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship. The loser will have no chance of going to the Pac-12 Championship. After this game, the Bruins will return to Los Angeles to challenge USC in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a rivalry game after Thanksgiving. Let's hope that the UCLA Bruins will recover from this heartbreaking loss to Washington State and defeat Utah and USC to head to the Pac-12 Championship. Gooooooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is one of the holding penalties that the referees/officials
neglected to call. UCLA fans kept shouting, "HOLDING!
WHERE'S THE FLAG?!". A "flag" is a penalty marker indicating that a
player on one of the teams is breaking a rule in football. As a result, the
team will either have extra yards to have to gain back (offense) or
the opposing team will have less yards to need to pick up for a
1st down (defense). UCLA was on defense in this play while Washington State
was on offense. You could see that UCLA defender Deon Hollins (black jersey #58)
was being held by a Washington State offensive lineman. If the referees called
this penalty, Washington State would have had to cover 10 extra yards on
offense to pick up a 1st down.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Part 9: #23 UCLA vs. Oregon State
After reaching bowl eligibility last week in a 35-31 victory against the Colorado Buffaloes, 23rd-ranked UCLA Bruins football traveled up to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers. Game time was at 1:30 PM Pacific Time. The Bruins looked to continue to control their own destiny through winning the rest of their games and possibly winning the Pac-12 South. Oregon State sits at the bottom of the Pac-12 North, with only 2 wins all season and failing to reach bowl eligibility. The Beavers are winless in Pac-12 Conference play, losing 5 straight overall after starting the year 2-1 (2 wins and 1 loss). Last week, OSU lost 27-12 at then-13th-ranked Utah.
In the two teams' last meeting in 2012, Oregon State upended UCLA (ranked 19th that week) at the Rose Bowl 27-20. This would be the Beavers' second straight upset win against a top 20 team. Their first in that season was a 10-7 victory against then-14th-ranked Wisconsin in Corvallis. This was also in former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley's first season as a college quarterback. OSU former quarterback Sean Mannion led the Beavers offense with 379 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Before this game, UCLA had not defeated a team from the state of Oregon since 2011.
The first quarter was scoreless, but on OSU's last drive in the quarter, Beavers quarterback Nick Mitchell fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by UCLA's Jacob Tuioti-Mariner. This set up a 38-yard field goal by UCLA kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn. On OSU's following drive, Mitchell's pass was intercepted by UCLA defensive back Randall Goforth. This led to an 8-yard touchdown pass from UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen to tight end Thomas Duarte to make the lead 10-0 Bruins. On OSU's next drive, Beavers punter Nick Porebski punted the ball all the way to UCLA's 4-yard line. This did not stop UCLA's offense as Rosen threw a 63-yard pass to wide receiver Kenneth Walker. This led to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Duarte again. The score was 17-0. then Nick Mitchell threw another interception into the hands of Bruins defensive back John Johnson. The next play, Duarte caught a 51-yard pass, followed up by a 7-yard rushing touchdown by UCLA running back Paul Perkins.
Josh Rosen had a very good first half, using a lot of big passes for 252 first-half passing yards. Oregon State, on the other hand, was having a very bad game, with 111 less total yards then Josh Rosen's yards alone. The Beavers had 3 turnovers: two interceptions and a fumble. All three of those turnovers led to UCLA scores: a field goal off of the fumble and two touchdowns for two picks (interceptions).
The third quarter only added to Oregon State's misery. the Bruins started the quarter with an 11-yard touchdown rush by running back Nate Starks to make the score 31-0. This was followed by an interception from Nick Mitchell to UCLA defender Jaleel Wadood. It led to a UCLA field goal. By the end of the third quarter, UCLA running back Soso Jamabo ran the ball 30 yards for a touchdown to expand the lead to 41-0. This wound up as the final score of the game as the Bruins completed their first shutout in the Jim Mora Era (2012-present) and got their seventh win of the season.
The Bruins had an impressive game defensively since no points were allowed and only 246 yards were allowed. Meanwhile, the offense had a season-high 674 yards in possibly their best win of the season. This game was the second game that UCLA's defense allowed less than 5 points. The other game that was well-played defensively was a 37-3 victory against UNLV in Las Vegas. Oregon State had less total offensive yards than the yards Josh Rosen produced alone. Rosen completed 22of 33 pass attempts for 333 passing yards and 2 touchdowns before being pulled out for garbage time in the fourth quarter. Garbage time is when a team that has a blowout lead in the fourth quarter pulls out all of their starters to prevent unnecessary injuries. Place kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn managed to come within 1 point for tying the UCLA all-time record for "most points responsible for".
Elsewhere in the Pac-12 South, Colorado was blown out 42-10 by #11 Stanford, Arizona State completely lost their Pac-12 title hopes with a 38-24 loss to Washington State, #12 Utah hung on to beat Washington 34-23, and USC escaped Arizona 38-30. With Utah's win, UCLA remains tied for second place for the Pac-12 South with USC. UCLA has yet to play against both USC and Utah, as those two games will finish out the regular season for the Bruins.
On Tuesday afternoon, UCLA leaped up to 19th in the College Football Playoff top 25. The Bruins are riding a 3-game win streak and will look to extend it against the Washington State Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Washington State has had an up-and-down season this year. To start the year, the Cougars lost to a lower-division team 24-17 in Washington. This was followed by two wins before starting conference play with a loss to then-24th-ranked California, whom UCLA blew out at the Rose Bowl. They rode a 3-game win streak until blowing a 43-yard field goal that could've boosted the Cougars to a win against then-8th-ranked Stanford. The Cougars rebounded with a 38-24 win against Arizona State last Saturday. This game is the final game at the Rose Bowl for UCLA. Kickoff is at 7:45 PM Pacific Time. The Bruin football players will wear special USA-themed helmets as the game will be dedicated to Military Appreciation Day (Veterans' Day is on Wednesday November 11). I am pretty sure that Washington State will fight as hard as they can, even if they have a disadvantage on offense.
The Cougars have an "air raid" type of offense, which means they do a lot of passing plays. In fact, they rank second in the nation in average passing yards per game, with about 417 yards passing per game. UCLA's defense ranks 1st in the Pac-12 in passing yards allowed per game with 199 while Washington State is second with 211. UCLA's defense, however, is ranked 8th in the Pac-12 in rushing yards allowed per game with 198, while Washington State is 11th in the conference with 206. Given that Washington State is 2nd to last in rushing yards per game in the country, UCLA's defense might not have so much of a hard time since they are good at not allowing so many pass yards. Also, UCLA is good at making rushing plays, so that can really get to Washington State's defense. Anyways, I hope that UCLA defeats Washington State to progress to 8-2 (8 wins and 2 losses) and will be prepared for road games at Utah and USC to close the season. Goooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!
In the two teams' last meeting in 2012, Oregon State upended UCLA (ranked 19th that week) at the Rose Bowl 27-20. This would be the Beavers' second straight upset win against a top 20 team. Their first in that season was a 10-7 victory against then-14th-ranked Wisconsin in Corvallis. This was also in former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley's first season as a college quarterback. OSU former quarterback Sean Mannion led the Beavers offense with 379 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. Before this game, UCLA had not defeated a team from the state of Oregon since 2011.
The first quarter was scoreless, but on OSU's last drive in the quarter, Beavers quarterback Nick Mitchell fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by UCLA's Jacob Tuioti-Mariner. This set up a 38-yard field goal by UCLA kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn. On OSU's following drive, Mitchell's pass was intercepted by UCLA defensive back Randall Goforth. This led to an 8-yard touchdown pass from UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen to tight end Thomas Duarte to make the lead 10-0 Bruins. On OSU's next drive, Beavers punter Nick Porebski punted the ball all the way to UCLA's 4-yard line. This did not stop UCLA's offense as Rosen threw a 63-yard pass to wide receiver Kenneth Walker. This led to a 10-yard touchdown pass to Duarte again. The score was 17-0. then Nick Mitchell threw another interception into the hands of Bruins defensive back John Johnson. The next play, Duarte caught a 51-yard pass, followed up by a 7-yard rushing touchdown by UCLA running back Paul Perkins.
Josh Rosen had a very good first half, using a lot of big passes for 252 first-half passing yards. Oregon State, on the other hand, was having a very bad game, with 111 less total yards then Josh Rosen's yards alone. The Beavers had 3 turnovers: two interceptions and a fumble. All three of those turnovers led to UCLA scores: a field goal off of the fumble and two touchdowns for two picks (interceptions).
The third quarter only added to Oregon State's misery. the Bruins started the quarter with an 11-yard touchdown rush by running back Nate Starks to make the score 31-0. This was followed by an interception from Nick Mitchell to UCLA defender Jaleel Wadood. It led to a UCLA field goal. By the end of the third quarter, UCLA running back Soso Jamabo ran the ball 30 yards for a touchdown to expand the lead to 41-0. This wound up as the final score of the game as the Bruins completed their first shutout in the Jim Mora Era (2012-present) and got their seventh win of the season.
The Bruins had an impressive game defensively since no points were allowed and only 246 yards were allowed. Meanwhile, the offense had a season-high 674 yards in possibly their best win of the season. This game was the second game that UCLA's defense allowed less than 5 points. The other game that was well-played defensively was a 37-3 victory against UNLV in Las Vegas. Oregon State had less total offensive yards than the yards Josh Rosen produced alone. Rosen completed 22of 33 pass attempts for 333 passing yards and 2 touchdowns before being pulled out for garbage time in the fourth quarter. Garbage time is when a team that has a blowout lead in the fourth quarter pulls out all of their starters to prevent unnecessary injuries. Place kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn managed to come within 1 point for tying the UCLA all-time record for "most points responsible for".
Elsewhere in the Pac-12 South, Colorado was blown out 42-10 by #11 Stanford, Arizona State completely lost their Pac-12 title hopes with a 38-24 loss to Washington State, #12 Utah hung on to beat Washington 34-23, and USC escaped Arizona 38-30. With Utah's win, UCLA remains tied for second place for the Pac-12 South with USC. UCLA has yet to play against both USC and Utah, as those two games will finish out the regular season for the Bruins.
On Tuesday afternoon, UCLA leaped up to 19th in the College Football Playoff top 25. The Bruins are riding a 3-game win streak and will look to extend it against the Washington State Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Washington State has had an up-and-down season this year. To start the year, the Cougars lost to a lower-division team 24-17 in Washington. This was followed by two wins before starting conference play with a loss to then-24th-ranked California, whom UCLA blew out at the Rose Bowl. They rode a 3-game win streak until blowing a 43-yard field goal that could've boosted the Cougars to a win against then-8th-ranked Stanford. The Cougars rebounded with a 38-24 win against Arizona State last Saturday. This game is the final game at the Rose Bowl for UCLA. Kickoff is at 7:45 PM Pacific Time. The Bruin football players will wear special USA-themed helmets as the game will be dedicated to Military Appreciation Day (Veterans' Day is on Wednesday November 11). I am pretty sure that Washington State will fight as hard as they can, even if they have a disadvantage on offense.
The Cougars have an "air raid" type of offense, which means they do a lot of passing plays. In fact, they rank second in the nation in average passing yards per game, with about 417 yards passing per game. UCLA's defense ranks 1st in the Pac-12 in passing yards allowed per game with 199 while Washington State is second with 211. UCLA's defense, however, is ranked 8th in the Pac-12 in rushing yards allowed per game with 198, while Washington State is 11th in the conference with 206. Given that Washington State is 2nd to last in rushing yards per game in the country, UCLA's defense might not have so much of a hard time since they are good at not allowing so many pass yards. Also, UCLA is good at making rushing plays, so that can really get to Washington State's defense. Anyways, I hope that UCLA defeats Washington State to progress to 8-2 (8 wins and 2 losses) and will be prepared for road games at Utah and USC to close the season. Goooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Part 8: Colorado vs #24 UCLA
After rebounding from back-to-back blowout losses, 24th-ranked UCLA football will finally receive a rest from a rough football schedule against four of five teams in the top 20. UCLA went 3-2 (3 wins and 2 losses) in this stretch. UCLA defeated #19 BYU 24-23, #16 Arizona 56-30, and #20 California 40-24. The Bruins lost to Arizona State 38-23 and #15 Stanford 56-35. Among these teams as of now, only Stanford remains ranked, sitting atop the Pac-12 at #8 in the country. In total, only 3 Pac-12 teams are ranked: #8 Stanford, #13 Utah, and of course, #24 UCLA. The Bruins are tied for second in the Pac-12 South Division with USC, only one win behind Utah, whom UCLA will play near the end of the season. Back on Thursday night, Arizona State fell out of Pac-12 South Championship contention with a triple overtime loss to the Oregon Ducks of the Pac-12 North Division.
Back to that rest that UCLA will get, the Bruins started off by playing against the Colorado Buffaloes, who are last place in the Pac-12 South, at the Rose Bowl. The Buffaloes went into this game coming off of their first Pac-12 Conference win in, pretty much, forever (not really forever, but first win in a long time against a Pac-12 team), by defeating the Oregon State Beavers 17-13. Last year, UCLA (ranked 25th at the time) barely survived the Buffaloes 40-37 in Colorado. The Bruins led 24-14 going into halftime before being outscored 17-7 in the second half. After two overtimes, UCLA prevailed 40-37 off of an 8-yard touchdown rush by former Bruins quarterback (currently Green Bay Packers backup QB) Brett Hundley.
On UCLA's first drive, the Bruins moved 91 yards, capped off by a 31-yard touchdown pass from UCLA freshman quarterback Josh Rosen to Bruins junior running back Paul Perkins. The score at the end of the first quarter was 7-0 UCLA. Midway through the second quarter, on a Colorado 3rd down and goal, Buffaloes quarterback Sefo Liufau threw an interception to UCLA cornerback Ishmael Adams, who returned it 96 yards in the other direction for a pick-6. UCLA led 14-0. Colorado answered with a field goal to cut it to 14-3. After Colorado kicked it off, UCLA freshman wide receiver Stephen Johnson III returned it to UCLA's 28-yard line. But the Bruins were marched back 10 yards off of a holding penalty. This set up an 82-yard touchdown run by Paul Perkins to make the score 21-3. Colorado kicked a field goal going into halftime making the score 21-6 Bruins.
UCLA's offense barely spent any time on the field as Colorado's offense had 61 plays, the most plays allowed in a half. The main reason the Bruins had a lead was because of their quick scoring offense. UCLA's injury-plagued defense, however, allowed over 250 yards of offense from Colorado in the first half.
The third quarter is when the Buffaloes took advantage of UCLA's depleted defense. On the first Colorado drive of the half, all of their plays were rush plays. The Buffaloes scored a touchdown off of it, cutting the score to 21-13. Sophomore UCLA running back Nate Starks answered with an 11-yard touchdown run to expand the lead to 28-13. Colorado began to go wild here. After a Buffaloes field goal to end the third quarter, Josh Rosen was sacked and fumbled the ball. It was picked up by Colorado and returned for the touchdown by Buffaloes defender Samson Kafovalu. The score was 28-23. Colorado took their first lead of the game when CU running back Patrick Carr rushed for a 6-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was successful and Colorado led 31-28. UCLA's offense responded with a 3-play 67-yard drive that took only 27 seconds. The drive was capped off by a short touchdown run by UCLA freshman running back Soso Jamabo. Looking for last hopes, Sefo Liufau threw a pass late in the fourth quarter, only to be intercepted by UCLA freshman defender Nate Meadors, thus ending the game with the score being a 35-31 UCLA victory.
The UCLA Bruins football team reached bowl game eligibility with their sixth win of the year. UCLA senior kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn is 10 points shy of tying or breaking the UCLA record of responsibility for most points. There are only at least 5 games left this season for UCLA: the four leftover regular season games and the bowl game. All the Bruins need to do is win the rest of their regular season games in order to reach the Pac-12 Championship. If that happens, UCLA would need to play against Stanford, who is currently 8th in the country and who also trashed UCLA two weeks ago. In case anyone wanted to know if "history would be repeated", that unfortunately did not happen as USC defeated California 27-21 in Berkeley. In other Pac-12 South games, 13th-ranked Utah defeated Oregon State 27-12 in Salt Lake City and Washington pounded Arizona 49-3 in Seattle.
On Sunday morning, UCLA moved up in the AP top 25 to number 22. This will be the last time I mention UCLA's ranking in the AP top 25. On Tuesday November 3, the first College Football Playoff top 25 was released. UCLA was placed at number 23. Next week, UCLA football will travel up to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers, who have the worst overall record in the Pac-12 Conference and are sitting dead last in the Pac-12 North Division, winless in the Pac-12. Last year, Oregon State did fail to reach a bowl game, but late in the season, the Beavers shocked then-#6 Arizona State 35-27 in Corvallis. I hope that UCLA does not let an upset loss happen and will continue an exciting season. After this game, the Bruins will play against the Washington State Cougars in their final game at the Rose Bowl this season. Washington State barely lost to #8 Stanford 30-28 off of a botched 43-yard field goal. Back to the Oregon State game, I hope that UCLA wins this game. Gooooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Heads up to basketball fans! Basketball season will be starting really soon! UCLA has already won an exhibition game against Cal State L.A. The 2015-2016 Bruins basketball team attended the Colorado game at the Rose Bowl and will travel to the Maui Invitational in Hawaii early in this season.
UCLA's offense barely spent any time on the field as Colorado's offense had 61 plays, the most plays allowed in a half. The main reason the Bruins had a lead was because of their quick scoring offense. UCLA's injury-plagued defense, however, allowed over 250 yards of offense from Colorado in the first half.
The third quarter is when the Buffaloes took advantage of UCLA's depleted defense. On the first Colorado drive of the half, all of their plays were rush plays. The Buffaloes scored a touchdown off of it, cutting the score to 21-13. Sophomore UCLA running back Nate Starks answered with an 11-yard touchdown run to expand the lead to 28-13. Colorado began to go wild here. After a Buffaloes field goal to end the third quarter, Josh Rosen was sacked and fumbled the ball. It was picked up by Colorado and returned for the touchdown by Buffaloes defender Samson Kafovalu. The score was 28-23. Colorado took their first lead of the game when CU running back Patrick Carr rushed for a 6-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion was successful and Colorado led 31-28. UCLA's offense responded with a 3-play 67-yard drive that took only 27 seconds. The drive was capped off by a short touchdown run by UCLA freshman running back Soso Jamabo. Looking for last hopes, Sefo Liufau threw a pass late in the fourth quarter, only to be intercepted by UCLA freshman defender Nate Meadors, thus ending the game with the score being a 35-31 UCLA victory.
The UCLA Bruins football team reached bowl game eligibility with their sixth win of the year. UCLA senior kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn is 10 points shy of tying or breaking the UCLA record of responsibility for most points. There are only at least 5 games left this season for UCLA: the four leftover regular season games and the bowl game. All the Bruins need to do is win the rest of their regular season games in order to reach the Pac-12 Championship. If that happens, UCLA would need to play against Stanford, who is currently 8th in the country and who also trashed UCLA two weeks ago. In case anyone wanted to know if "history would be repeated", that unfortunately did not happen as USC defeated California 27-21 in Berkeley. In other Pac-12 South games, 13th-ranked Utah defeated Oregon State 27-12 in Salt Lake City and Washington pounded Arizona 49-3 in Seattle.
On Sunday morning, UCLA moved up in the AP top 25 to number 22. This will be the last time I mention UCLA's ranking in the AP top 25. On Tuesday November 3, the first College Football Playoff top 25 was released. UCLA was placed at number 23. Next week, UCLA football will travel up to Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers, who have the worst overall record in the Pac-12 Conference and are sitting dead last in the Pac-12 North Division, winless in the Pac-12. Last year, Oregon State did fail to reach a bowl game, but late in the season, the Beavers shocked then-#6 Arizona State 35-27 in Corvallis. I hope that UCLA does not let an upset loss happen and will continue an exciting season. After this game, the Bruins will play against the Washington State Cougars in their final game at the Rose Bowl this season. Washington State barely lost to #8 Stanford 30-28 off of a botched 43-yard field goal. Back to the Oregon State game, I hope that UCLA wins this game. Gooooooooooooooo Bruins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Heads up to basketball fans! Basketball season will be starting really soon! UCLA has already won an exhibition game against Cal State L.A. The 2015-2016 Bruins basketball team attended the Colorado game at the Rose Bowl and will travel to the Maui Invitational in Hawaii early in this season.
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