Bruins, DTR Throw Away Chance for Tenth Win; Lose to Pitt, 37-35
UCLA blew a 21-14 halftime lead and allowed 20 unanswered points to the Panthers.
This game played out a lot like the regular season. The Bruins dominated the first half, but they faltered horribly in the second half.
The UCLA defense kept Pitt out of the end zone in the first quarter. Instead, the Panthers settled for a 22-yard field goal by kicker Ben Sauls.
On the Bruins’ first drive of the game, UCLA moved 77 yards in seven plays and scored on an 11-yard pass from Dorian Thompson-Robinson to Logan Loya.
The UCLA defense held the Panthers to a field goal again on their second drive. This time, it was a 49-yarder.
The Bruins came right back and moved 75 yards and scored another touchdown on a one-yard run by DTR, giving UCLA a 14-6 lead.
Following a Pitt punt, the Bruins took over on their own 20 yard line and quickly moved down to the Panther 13. But, rather than taking a commanding lead, DTR threw the first of three interceptions.
The Panthers responded by moving 94 yards down the field for their first touchdown when Nick Patti found Bub Means in the end zone. The two-point conversion tied the game up, 14-14.
That right there was a 14-point turn around, but it wasn’t an end-of-the-world mistake. After all, the Bruins bounced right back and moved 75 yards for their third TD of the game on a 28-yard pass from DTR to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala with 57 seconds left in the half, giving the Bruins a 21-14 halftime lead.
The second half of the game, much like the second half of the season, proved to be these Bruins’ undoing.
After getting the second half kickoff, UCLA moved the ball well to start the drive. Soon, the Bruins were on the Panther 24-yard line and it looked like they were about to double up the Panthers. But, again, DTR threw an interception deep in Pitt territory. The Panthers weren’t able to score any points from this turnover, though, and the teams traded punts.
With 8:45 left in the third quarter, Jaylin Davies intercepted a pass from Pitt quarterback Nick Patti and he took it 52 yards to the house for a Pick 6 and UCLA led 28-14.
Patti and the Panthers refused to go away as they drove 74 yards down to the Bruin 1-yard line. Pitt running back Rodney Hammond, Jr., who the Bruins had a tough time stopping all afternoon, ran the ball in for a score to close the gap to a touchdown.
Pitt punted the ball away to start the fourth quarter, but on UCLA’s first play of the quarter, DTR threw his third interception of the game, giving the ball back to the Panthers on the Bruins’ 18.
With momentum now on their side, the Panthers had no trouble tying the game on a seven-yard run by Hammond.
UCLA’s second half woes continued on the ensuing kickoff when Jayden Marshall fumbled the ball back to Pitt. While the Bruin defense held, the Panthers were still able to re-take the lead on a 31-yard field goal by Sauls.
Meanwhile, DTR was injured on that third interception and Ethan Garbers came out to try to lead a Bruin comeback. But Garbers’ first drive looked as anemic as UCLA’s attempt to comeback against Arizona and it ended with a punt after three plays.
Another Panther field goal, this time from 27 yards, seemed to close the door on the game for the Bruins. And, a five-play Bruin drive that ended with an incompletion from Garbers to Loya seemed to nail the door shut.
But the Bruin defense stopped Pitt on four downs and UCLA took over on their own 28.
The Bruin offense seemed to come back to life instantly. TJ Harden rattled off a 34-yard run and passes to Mokiao-Atimalala and Jake Bobo gave UCLA a first and goal on the Pitt eight. Kelly called Harden’s number again and he delivered with a touchdown run. The extra point put the Bruins up, 35-34, with 34 seconds left.
The Bruin defense couldn’t stop the Panthers again and gave up 46 yards in 24 seconds, setting up a 47-yard attempt by Sauls, who had only made 80% of his field goal attempts all season. While he was due for a miss, he remained perfect on the day, giving the Panthers a 37-34 win with four seconds left.
With that, the 2022 Bruins, whose season showed so much promise in the first half of the season, was put out of its second half misery, both in the season and in this game.
Go Bruins.
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We were up 14 in the 3rd quarter against an unranked and depleted team and had the game in our control.
We were 8-1 this season and had the P12 and a possible CFP appearance in our control.
Wasted opportunities. A 37-35 loss. 9-4 on the season.
Today was a microcosm of our season and sadly typical of our program. And this was our "best" season in almost a decade. What a shame.
Separately and sincerely, and more importantly in the big picture...Thank you to all our seniors and others who played their final game in blue and gold today. Always a Bruin.
It’s really hard to be a ucla football fan.