UCLA Bruins Defeat Bama State Hornets with Class, 45-7
While the Bruins did not cover the spread, much of that can be attributed to Chip Kelly clearing the UCLA bench in the second half.
This afternoon’s UCLA game against the Alabama State Hornets was over when Dorian Thompson-Robinson connected with tight end Hudson Habermehl for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 4:53 to go in the first quarter. That touchdown put the Bruins up 14-0 and, while the Hornets closed the gap to seven points in the second quarter, the UCLA defense held Bama State to just that one touchdown en route to a 45-7 win at the Rose Bowl.
DTR left the game early with what appears to have been a minor injury as he appeared to be ready to return, even though Chip Kelly chose not to chance the health of his starting quarterback by sending him back into a game which was already over.
In his place, Ethan Garbers led the Bruins until the fourth quarter when Kelly cleared his bench and played both Chase Griffin and even walk-on Chase Artopoeus.
Keegan Jones got the start at running back as Zach Charbonnet didn’t see any action in this one. But, again, Kelly used this game to get his backups some experience. T.J. Harden, Christian Grubb, Colson Yankoff and Deshun Murrell all saw time in this one.
Overall, the Bruins compiled 485 yards of total offense with 220 yards on the ground and 265 through the air.
While the UCLA defense gave up plenty of yards, they kept Bama State out of the end zone with the exception of a 21-yard pass from Myles Crawley to Jeremiah Hixon. Overall, the Bruins gave up 223 yards passing while holding the Hornet offense to just 87 yards rushing. The defense also had three takeaways with interceptions by Jaylin Davies and D.J. Justice and a fumble recovery by Gabriel Murphy.
Murphy’s fumble recovery led to one of the game’s most questionable calls when it appeared that he fumbled the ball while being tackled. The fumble went forward, however, and UCLA was flagged for an illegal forward pass nullifying a touchdown. UCLA responded immediately with that game-winning touchdown pass from DTR to Habermehl.
Most notable perhaps after last week was the the special teams looked much improved with Logan Loya taking over punt return duties from Jake Bobo.
UCLA’s next game will be next Saturday at 11 am at the Rose Bowl against the South Alabama Jaguars.
Go Bruins!!!
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I think Alabama State played 3 or 4 QBs as well, giving them an opportunity to play on the Rose Bowl field. It was like a friendly in soccer.
A really nice scrimmage. Not the most exciting game to watch, but a good chance to see the 2nd and 3rd string develop. Also really cool that Alabama State brought their awesome marching band out.