UCLA Bruins Hold On to Beat Nebraska, 27-20
The win keeps bowl a alive for one more week.
UCLA’s narrow bowl hopes remain alive after the Bruins held on for a 27-20 road win this afternoon over the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
UCLA got the ball to start the game and immediately marched down the field, moving 68 yards on 14 plays, but the drive stalled on the Nebraska 7-yard line and Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 25-yard field goal to give the Bruins an early 3-0 lead.
Following a three-and-out by the Cornhuskers, the Bruins followed up their first drive with another long one. This time, they moved 85 yards on eleven plays. The drive actually ended up being the last one of the first quarter even though it was only the third possession of the game by either team. Eventually, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers found Jalen Berger for a 10-yard touchdown pass which put the Bruins ahead 10-0.
On the Huskers’ next possession, it looked like it was going to be another three-and-out for the Bruin defense, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Nebraska a first down on their own 40 and kept the drive alive. It would prove to be a costly penalty as the Cornhuskers moved down the field and scored a touchdown to close the gap to 10-7.
The UCLA offense continued to move the ball well on their next possession, but, again, the Bruin drive stalled inside the Nebraska 10-yard line and DeShaun Foster settled for another field goal, giving UCLA a 13-7 lead and that was the score at the end of the first half.
The Huskers got the ball to start the second half, but, on the very first play of the second half, UCLA’s Kain Medrano stepped in front of a pass from Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola to intercept it and Medrano took it back 38 yards for a touchdown to increase the Bruins’ lead to 20-7.
On Nebraska’s next drive, Raiola led the Huskers to the UCLA 42-yard line. Facing a fourth-and-three situation, Matt Rhule chose to go for it but Raiola’s pass was incomplete, turning the ball over on downs to UCLA in pretty good field position.
The Bruins didn’t need much time to score again. Following a sack of Garbers, T.J. Harden got one of his longest runs of the season, picking up 18 yards and a first down on the Nebraska 48. On the next play, Garbers found Kwazi Gilmer on a corner route for a 48-yard touchdown pass to increase the UCLA lead to 27-7.
Nebraska responded with a touchdown of their own following a seven-play, 70-yard drive which ended when Raiola found Isaiah Naylor for an eight-yard touchdown pass, but the key play on the drive was another unsportsmanlike conduct call on second-and-eleven on the Huskers’ 47-yard line. It was the second time today that the Bruins were hit by a significant penalty which led to a touchdown. That narrowed the gap to 27-14.
After the teams traded three punts, Nebraska found themselves on the receiving end of another Bruin unsportsmanlike conduct call which kept a drive alive on a fourth and three on the Bruins three. And, of course, the Huskers capitalized on the mistake for their third touchdown of the game. So much for the D in D.R.E. It was lucky for the Bruins that John Hoyl missed the extra point making it a 27-20 game instead of 27-21.
By this point, there was just under four minutes left in the game and the Bruins’ next possession brought it all the way down to the 2:22 mark before they punted away.
Nebraska took over on their own 19 with backup QB Heinrich Haarberg leading the team after an injury to Raiola sidelined him. He led the Huskers to the UCLA 34 before a call for illegal touching pushed the Huskers back to a second-and-15 from the Bruin 39.
And then, disaster struck for Husker fans. Haarberg through a pass intended for Jacory Barney, Jr., but it was tipped and, on the way to the ground, the ball bounced off Barney’s leg and right into the hands of UCLA defensive back Kaylin Moore for the interception to seal the win for the Bruins.
Garbers finished the game completing 17 of 25 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. He also led UCLA in rushing with 56 yards on six carries, due primarily to the fact that he had a 57 yard run, which was the Bruins’ longest run of the season.
Gilmer led the team in receiving with three receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown.
UCLA returns home to the Rose Bowl on Friday night for a game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at 6 pm PT on Fox before playing another Friday night game at Washington a week later.
Go Bruins!!!
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Need to solve 3 problems. Stupid penalties, 3rd and 4th downs with 1yd, score TD when 1st and goal inside 10. Don’t understand why we always run up middle with 1 yd to go. Need some variety. That said great road win. We can beat Iowa, Washington and SUC to get to a bowl.
Another Perfect Day!