UCLA Spots UNLV 23 Points; Loses 30-23
It was too little, too late and the Bruins lost to the Rebels for the first time.
Let’s start with the good news: UCLA finally decided to play some football last night against UNLV.
Now, the bad: They only played 31 minutes and 49 seconds.
That’s because the Bruins’ first three drives ended wit two punts and a fumble. Meanwhile, the defense couldn’t get off the field. UNLV’s first four drives ended with a field goal and not one, not two, but three touchdowns.
The lone defensive bright spot of the first half was only the result of an errant snap on the extra point try following the third touchdown. That’s the only time the defense stopped the Rebels from scoring in the first half.
On UCLA’s first drive, the Bruins actually managed to move the ball 32 yards on runs by Javian Thomas and Jalen Barger. But then, Nico Iamaleava was sacked twice and UCLA was forced to punt. That was the Bruins’ only real drive in the first quarter as UNLV had the ball for 11 minutes and 27 seconds during the opening period.
To be sure, UCLA got the ball for a second time with nine seconds left in the first. This drive actually lasted for eight plays with the Bruins moving just 25 yards before Iamaleava threw an inside screen pass to Mikey Matthews on third and 13 which gained just two yards and UCLA punted it away again.
Following another Rebel touchdown, UCLA’s third drive consisted of five plays and moved 19 yards. That set up a fourth and one at the Bruin 46. This time, the Rebels snuffed out a run by Iamaleava, who actually fumbled the ball. Jaheem Joseph recovered for the Rebels and this drive was over.
Five plays later, UNLV was up 23-0, thanks to a 19-yard touchdown run by Keyvone Lee. The snap on the extra point sailed over the head of the holder and was no good as a result. After the attempt, the Rebels were called for unsportsmanlike conduct which backed up the ensuing kickoff 15 yards, and they were called for offsides on the kickoff. So, they ended up kicking off from their 15 and Anthony Frias II returned it to UCLA’s 39 to start the drive with 1:49 left.
On the first play of the drive, Garrett DiGiorgio was called for holding, backing the Bruins up 10 yards, but the next play saw Blesyng Alualu-Tuiolemotu called for unsportmanlike conduct, moving UCLA up 15. On 1st and ten from the 44, Iamaleava found Kwazi Gilmer for 15 yards. Eventually, they managed to get down to the UNLV 15 and found themselves facing a third-and-one with 14 seconds left in the half. Iamaleava tried to throw to Hudson Habermehl for the first down, but his pass landed well short and was incomplete. Not wanting to get so deep into Rebel territory and come up empty, Foster sent out Bhaghani on 4th-and-one for a 33-yard field goal and UCLA trailed 23-3 at the break.
The tables actually turned in the second half.
UCLA got the ball to start the half and drove 71 yards on 11 plays to the UNLV four-yard line. That’s when Iamaleava found freshman tight end Noah Fox-Flores in the end zone to close the gap to 23-10.
The defense finally got a three-and-out on UNLV’s ensuing possession and the Bruins began their next drive from their own 31. The Bruins drove all the way down to the one-yard line. After they couldn’t get in on first or second downs, Tino Sunseri went to the air, but Titus Mokiao-Atimalala was called for offensive PI due to a pick which, otherwise, would have seen Gilmer score the Bruins’ second TD of the game. That backed them up 15 yards and UCLA would have to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Bhaghani. That made it 23-13 entering the fourth quarter.
While this game looked lost before halftime, it was actually UNLV’s next drive which put the game away. The Rebels capped a quick six-play drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Colandrea to Var'Keyes Gumms to put them up 30-13.
UCLA scored on a 30-yard run by Iamaleava on their next drive to bring the gap back to 10 points, 30-20.
After the Bruin defense got another three-and-out, UCLA quickly drove down to the Rebel 15-yard line with a little help from a pass interference call against UNLV. But Iamaleava threw three straight incomplete passes and the Bruins settled for a 33-yard field goal from Bhaghani. That brought the Bruins to just a touchdown down with 5:25 left.
UNLV managed to work the clock on their next drive. They ran just six plays and gained just one first down, but the took a little more than three minutes off the clock while DeShaun Foster sat on two timeouts.
The Bruins took over with 2:19 to go, still needing a touchdown to tie.
The drive began with a 19-yard gain being wiped out by a hands to the face personal foul on Julian Armella which cost UCLA 13 yards and moved them back to their own 13. That was huge. It was a 32-yard turnaround.
Following an incompletion, Iamaleava completed five consecutive passes and the Bruins had a first down on the UNLV 24. On second down, Iamaleava was looking for Matthews over the middle but the pass was batted by one of the Rebel linebackers and it was intercepted by Aamaris Brown, sealing the game for the Rebels.
Overall, Iamaleava finished the day completing 29 of 41 passes for 255 yards with one touchdown and that one interception. He also led the team with 59 yards rushing on 11 carries with a rushing touchdown while Javian Thomas carried five times for 43 yards and Anthony Woods carried eight times for 40 yards. Berger had six carries for 31 yards. So, overall, UCLA ran the ball much better than last week.
Gilmer was the Bruins’ top receiver with eight receptions for 87 yards.
UCLA returns to the Rose Bowl on Friday night for a game against the New Mexico Lobos at 7 pm PT.
Go Bruins.
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As a season ticket holder for 25 years, I learned to enjoy the losses as well as the wins. The team is sorely testing me over the last 7 years though...