Oh, No! We Suck Again! UCLA Bruins Lack Any Boom, Fall to Nebraska, 28-21
It was another game filled with missed opportunities for the Bruins.
Well, the good news is that tonight’s loss has moved UCLA one week closer to the end of the Tim Skipper era in Westwood.
And, to be sure, the Bruins did become the first opponent to score two passing touchdowns in a game against Nebraska’s offense.
But there are no moral victories in that. And, the Bruins lost their sixth game of the season to the Cornhuskers, 28-21.
UCLA got the ball first in this game and the Bruins failed to “start fast” again as they went three-and-out on the opening drive.
The Huskers took over on their own 39-yard line and promptly drove 61 yards on nine plays for the game’s first score.
UCLA’s next drive was a long, slow drive where the biggest gain was a 13-yard pass from Nico Iamaleava to Jalen Berger which moved the ball from the Nebraska 26 down to the 13. They got the ball back after the Huskers’ touchdown with eight minutes left in the first quarter on their own 25. This drive took them all eight of those minutes plus 1:46 into the second quarter to get the ball into the end zone to tie the game, 7-7.
Nebraska scored on each of their next drives to move ahead, 21-7. In between, UCLA had a nine-play drive which moved 39 yards but it ended when Iamaleava was stopped short of the marker and dropped for a two-yard loss on fourth-and-one.
UCLA got the ball back again with 1:42 left in the half. They managed to run 13 plays on the drive and they moved the ball effectively, but that nine minute-plus drive left them short on time and Mateen Bhaghani came out for a 49-yard field goal attempt with four seconds left. Bhagani’s try was no good and the teams went to the locker room with UCLA trailing 21-7.
Nebraska got the ball to start the second half and immediately drove 75 yards on six plays. On the final play of the drive, TJ Lateef found Emmtt Johnson, who took it to the house for a 40-yard touchdown. As it would turn out, that would be Nebraska’s final score of the game and it was the game-winning touchdown.
UCLA’s next drive was a short and successful one. On the fourth play of the drive, Iamaleava found Anthony Woods out of the backfield and he evaded the Husker defense for a 45-yard touchdown, cutting the lead to 28-14.
The Bruin defense forced a pair of punts on Nebraska’s next two drives, which sandwiched a UCLA drive that also ended in a punt.
After the Huskers’ second consecutive punt, UCLA took over on their own four, following an unsportsmanlike conduct call on Mikey Matthews, with 11:28 to go. The Bruins were able to finish a twelve-play 96-yard drive when Iamaleava threw a nine-yard TD pass to Anthony Frias, cutting the deficit to 28-21.
But, now, time was the Bruins’ biggest enemy.
They didn’t try an onside kick. Instead, they used a squib kick on the ensuing kickoff and the Huskers took over on their 24-yard with 4:47 to go.
Needing to get the ball back with the clock ticking, the UCLA defense gave up three first downs and couldn’t get the ball back as the Huskers went into Victory formation with 1:57 left and ran out the clock.
Overall, it was another lackluster performance from this team. They lacked the sense of urgency on their second drive and, ultimately, it cost them the opportunity to score a touchdown before the first half ended.
When the defense needed to step up and get off the field on Nebraska’s final drive, they couldn’t do it.
As a result of this sort of play on both sides of the ball, the crowd, which had enough red in it to feel like a Nebraska home game, left having witnessed another UCLA loss.
The fans didn’t even seem interested in sticking around for the postgame drone show. Speaking of the drone show, it was disappointing mostly because it lacked the boom of fireworks show, which seems fitting since the Bruins lacked any real boom in this game too.
Go Bruins.
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