UCLA Outlasts Arizona State, 50-36
The Bruin defense shutout the Sun Devils in the second quarter, which proved to be critical to UCLA's success.
If before tonight’s game I wrote that the Bruins would rush for more than 400 yards and Zach Charbonnet wouldn’t gain a single yard, most of you would have either wondered where I get my crack or if I had a copy of Grays Sports Almanac that I grabbed from a certain DeLorean because that’s exactly what happened tonight in Tempe as UCLA defeated the Arizona State Sun Devils, 50-36.
Yes, UCLA actually ran the ball 42 times tonight for 402 yards and five touchdowns. Kazmeir Allen led the team in rushing with 11 carries for 137 yards including a 75-yard touchdown run while Dorian Thompson-Robinson ran 10 times for 120 yards and a pair of TDs.
Keegan Jones and Colson Yankoff also got in on the action. Jones carried 12 times for 98 yards while Yankoff ran eight times for 48 yards. They each scored once as well.
This game was a classic Pac-12 After Dark matchup.
It got weird from the first play from scrimmage. That’s when Thompson-Robinson threw a ball that sailed right into the hands of ASU’s Chris Edmonds and the Sun Devils, who had deferred their choice to the second half, had the ball on the UCLA 40-yard line. But the Bruin defense refused to break despite the short field and the Sun Devils settled for a 25-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
DTR came back with a vengeance on the next drive. On third and 12, he found Logan Loya for 22 yards to keep the drive alive. Allen added a 34-yard run to put the ball on the ASU 21. Following a 3-yard run and a 4-yard run by Allen and Jones, respectively, Thompson-Robinson scampered for 14 yards into the end zone, leaping over Arizona State’s Jordan Clark in the process to give UCLA a 7-3 lead.
But Trenton Bourguet led ASU on a 12-play, 75-yard drive, eventually finding Messiah Swinson on a 3-yard touchdown pass to retake the lead, 10-7.
That would be the Sun Devils’ final lead of the game.
The Bruins only needed five plays to move the ball 77 yards on their next drive that included a 42-yard pass from DTR to Allen that gave UCLA a first-and-goal from the ASU 3. DTR threw a three-yard pass to Jones to put the Bruins ahead for good, 14-10, to end the first quarter.
Neither team scored on the first three possessions of the second quarter; however, with 11:26 to go in the half, UCLA began a 5-play, 91-yard drive that saw DTR throw passes to Jake Bobo and Allen for 33 yards and 11 yards, respecively. A 33-yard run by Thompson-Robinson gave the Bruins a first-and-ten from the ASU 10 and Jones instantly ran the ball for another UCLA touchdown and the Bruins went up, 21-10.
The Bruin defense stopped ASU again and, in fact, they shutout the Sun Devils in the second quarter. Looking back at it now, forcing three different three-and-outs in the quarter could be considered a big reason why UCLA won tonight.
That and, oh yeah, the final touchdown the Bruins scored following a 16-play, 90-yard drive which was capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from DTR to Michael Ezeike and the teams headed to the locker rooms with a score of 28-10.
When they came back on the field, the Bruin defense got another big stop by holding Arizona State to a three-and-out on the opening drive of the third quarter.
The Bruins moved the ball 65 yards in ten plays on their next drive as DTR scored again. This time, it was a 4-yard run on what appeared to be a broken play where he made it to the right pylon untouched to give UCLA a 35-10 lead.
At this point, the Sun Devils started to make a comeback, moving 75 yards on eight plays and finishing the drive with a 7-yard TD pass from Bourguet to Elijah Badger who made an impressive one-handed grab for the score. Sun Devil interim head coach Shaun Aguano opted to go for two and ASU was successful in cutting the Bruin lead to 35-18.
The ensuing kickoff went for a touchback and the Bruins started their next drive from the 25. UCLA only needed one play on this drive due to the fact that the Kazmanian Devil took off for a 75-yard touchdown run, increasing UCLA’s lead to 42-18.
Arizona State responded with a long 10-play, 75-yard drive for another touchdown which made it 42-25, UCLA.
After a fumble by DTR, all ASU could manage was a field goal which made it 42-28, Bruins. So, the Sun Devils were only able to get a pair of field goals off UCLA’s two turnovers and that would be important because the Bruins punted on their next drive for just the second time in the game.
The Sun Devils were able to capitalize on it, though, as Bourguet threw the ball for 56 of ASU’s 69 yards on the drive before Xazavian Valladay punched it in from one yard out. Now, it was a game with UCLA leading, 42-36.
UCLA has made a point this season to put teams away early and avoid letting teams truly get back into the game and tonight was no exception. DTR led the Bruins on a slow, 75-yard drive that ended with Yankoff scoring on a one-yard run. Chip Kelly opted to go for two in this situation and DTR found Titus Mokiao-Atimalala for the two-point conversion. That gave UCLA a 50-36 lead with two and a half to go.
Bourguet sliced and diced the Bruin defense to get the Sun Devils down to the UCLA 7-yard line. That’s when Bourguet found Jaylin Davies in the end zone. Of course, the only problem is that Davies was wearing a white UCLA jersey. The interception by Davies finished off the Sun Devils and the Bruins left Tempe with a 50-36 win.
The Bruins now head home for a game next Saturday against the Arizona Wildcats. The game time should be announced on Sunday morning.
Go Bruins!!!
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CFP committee idiots: Durr let's do this ranking....
1. Georgia
2. Tennessee
3. Ohio State
4. Michigan
5. LSU
6. U$C
7. Alabama
8. Oregon
9. Clemson
10. Ole Miss
11. TCU
12. Utah
13. Notre Dame
14. NC State
15. Penn State
16. UCLA
It was a good win. The confidence is growing. The gritty will, the singular determination to beat your opponents - make them say uncle - was on full display yesterday. We are indeed peaking at the right time. As for DTR, the commentator nailed it. We are seeing shades of Cade McNown in DTR. I can go on but I won't be doing justice, calling a spade a spade without mentioning this intriguing, perhaps most delightful, Cinderella moment in the game. Guess what, it is NOT about our team. It was that fabulous catch by a Sun Devil player named ELIJAH BADGER !
If you knew me from the old bruin website, I was born and raised in Wisconsin. I came out west to UCLA for my undergraduate program when Bill Walton was a senior, king of NCAA hoops. Then Wisconsin offered me a full graduate scholarship to come home four years later. UCLA belatedly did so only when I was already home. So I am a badger PHD and a bruin BA. To see a Sun Devil badger caught a beautiful pass against the bruins ? Imagine that weird, unbelievable feelings. That it was an interesting episode in life is an understatement.