UCLA Bruins Ground NCCU Eagles, 59-7
UCLA Bruins Ground NCCU Eagles, 59-7
The Bruins used a 35-point first quarter to take immediate control of the game.
If you missed the first minute and 14 seconds of today's UCLA Football game, you missed all you needed to see.
That's because, after receiving the opening kickoff, the Bruins’ first drive consisted of just one play -- a 67-yard touchdown pass from Dante Moore to Kam Brown.
That sent the Bruin defense onto the field and, after an incomplete pass on first down and a six-yard pass on second, Laiatu Latu intercepted the third straight pass from NCCU quarterback Davius Richard. Latu rumbled towards the goal line, but either ran out of steam or gave himself up to force the offense onto the field, perhaps to give the defense a quick breather.
Carson Steele made it 14-0, Bruins, one play later on a 1-yard plunge.
If you turned the game off at the point, you would have been as happy as anyone who sat through the remaining 58:46 because the result was the same.
Moore and company tacked on three more touchdowns in the first quarter. First, it was a 30-yard pass to J. Michael Sturdivant. Then, Collin Schlee gave Moore a series off. But it was another short series as Schlee ran the ball for a 57-yard touchdown on his first play from Scrimmage.
The Bruins’ final drive of the first quarter featured a 42-yard run by Steele, a two-yard run by Schlee and a one-yard sneak by Schlee and the Bruins were up 35-0.
That was the most points in a quarter by the Bruins since at least 1958. It's also the quickest fans in attendance have ever received the full 25% discount at the UCLA store.
Moore returned for the first series of the second quarter and drove the Bruins down to the Eagle four-yard line, but T.J. Harden lost yards on third and two, forcing Chip Kelly to send out the field goal unit. RJ Lopez nailed it from 24 yards and it was 38-0.
Enter the Bruins’ third quarterback of the first half. Ethan Garbers came out to start the next series. After a 13-yard completion to Kyle Ford, Harden ran for no gain. On second and ten, UCLA was called for a false start, making it 2nd and 15. This time, Harden broke it loose for a 62-yard touchdown to give UCLA a 45-0 halftime lead.
UCLA’s first bad drive of this game was their first drive of the second half. On third and ten from the UCLA 48, Schlee threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Jayden Flaker. It was the first drive which didn’t see UCLA not including their final two plays of the first half.
But the offense bounced right back on the next drive. Following a big 32-yard run by Anthony Adkins which gave UCLA the ball at the NCCU 25, Colson Yankoff joined the party with a 25-yard run of his own.
Meanwhile, Adkins scored the Bruins’ final touchdown of the game with 3:36 left in the third quarter on a one-yard run.
The Bruin defense looked outstanding as expected. They didn’t allow the Eagles to score until there was just 6:08 left in the game. They still have not allowed more than one touchdown in any game this season.
While they did allow a season-high 90 yards rushing, that was on 37 attempts which is an average of just 2.4 yards per rush.
Through the air, they only gave up 142 passing yards. So, they held the Eagles to just 232 yards total, despite being on the field for more than 36 minutes.
Realistically, the stats from this game probably shouldn’t count at all, given that, in the first half, the Bruin offense put up video game numbers and, in the second half, the Eagles added a lot of garbage time offense.
Regardless, UCLA should be jumping in the polls in the morning after easily covering the 35-point spread.
Moore finished the game 8 for 12 for 182 yards with two touchdowns. Adkins carried ten times for 96 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bruins in rushing.
Next week, the Bruins travel to Salt Lake City for what should be their toughest game of the season so far when they visit the Utah Utes.
Go Bruins!!!
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Thank you for the write up! It was great to see our efficiency on both sides of the ball - scoring 59 points in only 56 plays! - and doing what a good team should do to an overmatched opponent. I would add the coolest thing was seeing Chase Griffin getting to lead a TD drive and Justyn Martin getting two series as well... by the end we were wondering if Russell Stong had eligibility left! On to Utah!