UCLA Bruins Overcome 10-Point Deficit to Beat Iowa, 20-17
The Bruins scored 17 consecutive points after falling behind early.
Last night’s UCLA game was the most complete performance the Bruins have had all season. After falling behind to Iowa 10-0 early, UCLA scored 17 consecutive points in the second quarter to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room at the half. The Bruins shut down the Hawkeyes offense for most of the game and the defense kept Kaleb Johnson in check, holding him to just 49 yards on 18 carries for an average of 2.72 yards per carry. That’s a far cry from the 7.5 yards per carry he had coming into this game.
Conversely, the UCLA offense made the 18th-ranked Iowa rushing defense look 123rd-rated Mississippi State. Not only could the Hawkeyes not stop the Bruin running game, the Bruins actually moved the ball easily all game. T.J. Harden had a season-high 125 yards as the Bruins gained 211 yards on the ground. It was the first time a Bruin had more than 100 yards rushing this season.
But the game didn’t start out great for the Bruins.
After taking the opening kickoff, UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers threw an interception on the Bruins’ third play from scrimmage and Iowa took over at the UCLA 41-yard line.
The Hawkeyes moved down the field quickly due to a 32-yard pass from Brendan Sullivan to Jacob Gill which left Iowa on the Bruin two. Kaleb Johnson took it in for a touchdown on the next play.
On UCLA’s next possession, the team drove 72 yards from their own 25 all the way down to the Iowa 3. That’s when Ethan Garbers threw his second pick of the game just as the Bruins were about to score to tie the game up.
This time, with less than a minute to go in the quarter, Iowa drove downfield and they ended up settling for a field goal to take a 10-0 lead.
Having spotted the Hawkeyes 10-points early, UCLA finally decided to put up some points. The Bruins drove 36 yards on 11 plays but the drive stalled on the Iowa 39. Facing a fourth-and-ten from the Iowa 39-yard line, Coach DeShaun Foster sent out Mateen Bhaghani to try a 57-yard field goal. While it was almost short, it was actually good to the chagrin of 53,467 fans in attendance.
On the first play of Iowa’s next drive, Carson Schwesinger intercepted the pass from Brendan Sullivan, which would have given the Bruins the ball on the Iowa 30 but a personal foul after the interception moved UCLA back 15 yards to the Iowa 45.
The Bruins ran the ball on the first five plays of the drive and quickly moved to the Hawkeye 2-yard line. On the sixth play of the drive, Ethan Garbers found Titus Mokiao-Atimalala for a touchdown to tie the game up, 10-10.
Each team’s quarterback fumbled the ball away on their next possessions. First, Brendan Sullivan fumbled on the UCLA 47 and Kain Medrano returned it down to the Iowa 41. Then, just as UCLA was about to score again, Garbers fumbled near the goal line and it was recovered in the end zone for a touchback. But Iowa couldn’t capitalize and the Hawkeyes punted it away after a three-and-out.
When the Bruins took over on their own 45, Keegan Jones had runs of 11 yards and 5 yards to move into Iowa territory at the 40. Following an incomplete pass, Garbers found Logan Loya for an 11-yard pass play before finding him again for a 29-yard touchdown, allowing UCLA to take a 17-10 lead in the game with just under a minute to go in the half and that was the score at the half.
Following punts by both teams to start the second half, Sullivan threw a second interception to Schwesinger. While UCLA moved the ball well on the ensuing drive, a holding call against Josh Carlin set up a first-and-20 which proved to be the drive killer.
On fourth-and-12 from the Iowa 38, Coach Foster sent out Bhaghani to try another 57-yard field goal after the first one was successful. This one wasn’t and UCLA turned it over on the Iowa 39.
That led to Iowa’s only real lengthy touchdown drive of the game. All told, it was a 13-play, 61-yard drive which ended with a one-yard plunge by Johnson.
The Bruins got the ball back on their own 25 and they drove 66 yards on 13 plays to the Iowa 9, but far more important was the fact that UCLA burned more than six and a half minutes off the clock. The drive ended with another Bhaghani field goal, this time a 27-yarder, which put the Bruins up 20-17.
While UCLA’s drive took a lot of time off the clock, there was still a lot of time left. Iowa got the ball back with 4:49 left. But the Bruin defense came up big by holding the Hawkeyes to another three-and-out.
That gave the Bruins the ball with 3:53 left. UCLA got four first downs on the drive before they could go into Victory formation and Garbers could take a knee twice, giving UCLA their first home win of the season and the Bruins’ third win in a row.
In addition to the 211 yards on the ground, Garbers was 21 of 34 for 204 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He found Logan Loya five times last night for 94 yards and a touchdown. Titus Mokiao-Atimalala caught Garbers’ other TD pass.
UCLA now needs to win two of their final three games of the year in order to become bowl eligible.
Next Friday, they head to Seattle to face Washington before returning home to face Southern Cal and Fresno State to close out the regular season.
Go Bruins!!!
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This is the kind of improvement we hoped would happen over the course of Kelly’s tenure.
Playcalling improved, focus and energy improved. And so far, we’ve really only have one meh loss - MN was a winnable game but they’re not pushovers, and the other 4 teams that we lost to are all have a shot at the playoff. UW will be tough as playing in Seattle has always been hard but I’m more optimistic about our team and coaching staff now!
And, I'd add, especially live in person,
the throwbacks look sweet! 😎