Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Part 11: UCLA vs. #13 Utah

          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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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