UCLA Bruins Fall to Southern Cal, 19-13, After Late Touchdown
Neither offense was particularly effective, but the Trojans were able to use four field goals to win the game by six.
Last night, the UCLA Bruins lost to Southern Cal by a score of 19-13. The difference was a late touchdown where it seemed that Trojan receiver Ja'Kobi Lane may havejuggle the ball as he went out of bounds in the end zone, but the officials did not review the call nor did UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster challenge the call on the field. As a result, the play stood and ‘it proved to be the difference in the game.
For most of the game, it was a defensive battle. In fact, the teams only managed to score one touchdown each over the course of the game.
Offensively, the Bruins looked good on their first drive of the game. After a touchback on the opening kickoff, UCLA started the drive on their own 25. They were able to move it to the Southern Cal 33-yard line on just five plays, but on a third-and-six, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers was hit and the loose ball was initially called a fumble on the field, which was recovered by the Trojan defense. But the play was reviewed and the call on the field was reversed to an incomplete pass because Garbers’ arm was moving forward. So, the Bruins retained possession, but facing a fourth-and-six, Foster sent out Mateen Bhaghani who nailed a 51-yard field goal to put UCLA up 3-0.
On Southern Cal’s second possession, the Trojans added a 19-yard field goal by Michael Lantz to tie the game up, 3-3.
Lantz added two more field goals in the second quarter from 23 and 22 yards respectively and Southern Cal took a 9-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Trojans got the ball to start the second half. After they turned the ball over on downs on the UCLA 46, the Bruins moved the ball down to the Southern Cal 10-yard line on just six plays. On the next play, Garbers found Moliki Matavao for a 10-yard touchdown, and UCLA took a 10-9 lead.
Southern Cal didn’t do much on their next possession and the Bruins forced a punt, which landed on the UCLA 9-yard line. Despite the awful field position to start the drive, UCLA moved the ball well on the drive. The Bruins managed to move 86 yards, all the way down to the Trojan 5, but a false start call on Yutaka Mahe backed them up five yards to the Trojan 10. At that point, it was still first-and-goal but Garbers was sacked for a six-yard loss. A Keegan Jones run gained just a yard to the 15 and a pass to TJ Harden got it back to the 11.
Of course, Foster played it safe and settled for the field goal, giving the Bruins a 13-9 lead at the end of the third quarter.
After the teams traded punts to start the fourth quarter, Southern Cal took over on the UCLA 49 after a Brady Richter punt went for just 25 yards. That made it relatively easy for them to move down the field quickly. On second down, they went to a double pass with a lateral from Maiava to Makai Lemon who then threw a 39-yard pass to Kyron Hudson down to the UCLA 4-yard line. They followed that with a four-yard pass to Ja'Kobi Lane, which looked like he may have juggled the ball a bit as he went out of bounds, but there was no review. That touchdown put Southern Cal up for good, 16-13.
UCLA tried to comeback from that put couldn’t. On their next set of downs, they faced a fourth-and-one and Garbers tried to sneak it for the first down, but was unsuccessful and the Bruins gave the ball up on their own 34.
Southern Cal took over with 4:56 left and took their time running eight plays for 21 yards, burning just almost three minutes off the clock in the process before they added Michael Lantz’s fourth field goal of the game. This one was a 30-yarder.
The Bruins took over with 2:09 left on their own 25, but Garbers threw four straight incompletions, ending their last chance to win the game and their last chance to remain bowl eligible.
UCLA will close out their season on Saturday against Fresno State at 12:30 pm. The game will air on the Big Ten Network.
Go Bruins.
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You could not have written a more antiseptic and benign synopsis. This game was not only winnable, it should have been won . The problem is the head coach is ignorant of the limitations of his personnel, and more importantly, his offensive coordinator is incapable of calling a game that aligns with the talent level. Let’s be honest, Ethan Garbers is a mediocre quarterback at best. The picture perfect example is the four passes he threw inside of the remaining two minutes of the game that were not even close to the receiver. Yes, he was under pressure, but , he threw two at the feet, one over the head and one not even close to any Bruin personnel. Did that lose the game? No, the horrific series of playcalling when the Bruins had the lead and an opportunity to drive the field was what lost the game. After achieving 6 yards on first down, they decided to run the ball on three straight plays. The backbreaker was a decision to run up the middle on 4th down and 1 with an offensive line that is completely incapable of moving the defense. we’ve seen that for 11 weeks. Was that a surprise to anyone other than the Bienemy? The defense played one heckuva game, and laid it on the field, but the offensive coaching staff and head coach have let this team down game, after game, after game. It’s unfathomable to me that with the experience, the Bienemy brought to the job, the play calls on down and distance are criminal. And asking a quarterback with limited mobility, and no offensive line to execute those said plays is sheer ignorance. USC is highly beatable, yet UCLA and their offensive coaching staff found a way to lose. It’s a crime the players, especially seniors, had to live through this.
If you look at the game stats both teams were near even in the numbers….EXCEPT penalties. SUC 2 penalties. UCLA 8 penalties. The penalty problem was something that our head coach was going to “fix” after the first game this season. Nope. Consistently (not in a good way) an issue this entire season.