UCLA fans have long held “Once a Bruin, Always a Bruin.” It appears that Nevada quarterback Luke Duncan took that phrase to heart today. The former Bruin actually completed more passes to guys wearing powderkeg blue today than he did to his new Wolf Pack teammates.
Duncan threw interceptions on each of Nevada’s first three drives but completed just one pass to a guy in a white jersey before being pulled in favor of AJ Bianco.
The first interception came on Nevada’s first play from scrimmage when Scooter Jackson caught a pass intended for Gary Givens III at the Wolf Pack 30-yard line and he returned it two yards to the 28.
Six plays later, Mateen Bhaghani made a 26-yard field goal to give UCLA a 3-0 lead.
On Nevada’s second drive, the Wolf Pack drove all the way down to the Bruin 18-yard line when Duncan was intercepted by Jalen Woods and the Bruins’ second drive started at their own 17. This time, UCLA went three-and-out and punted it back to Nevada.
On third-and-twelve from the Nevada 27, Duncan was intercepted by Derrick Barksdale, who ran it back for a pick six and the Bruins now led 10-0.
While none of the 24,611 fans in attendance knew it yet, this game was over and the only thing left was for UCLA to cover the 22.5-point spread.
At that point, Duncan was yanked for Bianco. While he was unable to generate much offense either, at least his passes stopped being caught by the guys in gold helmets.
But the UCLA defense still continued to dominate the Wolf Pack. Overall, the Bruins only allowed 111 yards passing and 65 yards rushing while keeping Nevada off the scoreboard.
The Bruins would add another touchdown late in the first half when Ty Dieffenbach kept it for a four-yard rushing touchdown, and UCLA led 17-0 at the break.
On the first drive of the second half, the Bruins moved 75 yards on a 13-play drive which ate up almost half of the third quarter, scoring on a 14-yard pass by Dieffenbach to Wayne Knight and UCLA stretched the lead to 24-0.
UCLA’s final score came on a 38-yard field goal with just under 10 minutes to go. It made the score 27-0, Bruins. And, that’s how this one ended.
Reeve Sloane eventually replaced Bianco in the fourth quarter and Ty Lee grabbed UCLA’s fourth interception of the day to end Nevada’s last possession of the game.
Dieffenbach finished the game going 16-for-30 for 178 yards and a touchdown. The Bruin law firm of Knight, Woods and Thomas combined for 117 yards on 25 carries. Jalen St. Paul led the UCLA receivers with 53 yards on three catches.
Next Saturday, the Bruins will face a tough test on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, who took #4 Indiana to overtime this afternoon, but lost 23-16. Kickoff time and broadcast network remain TBD.
Go Bruins!!!
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Next appears to be scheduled for 9AM PT on FOX
The defense is championship caliber. I am still a little concerned about the offense but a 27-0 shutout is good against anybody. Defense is giving up 7 points a game for the last 5 games. The last 4 games are all winnable but we could lose any one of them.