UCLA at Washington
UCLA’s 24-17 win on the road against Washington should be just the confidence builder the Bruins need to bring back to the Rose Bowl for their upcoming game against the Oregon Ducks. Their QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson should have a field day for UCLA in that game and their RB Zach Charbonnet can’t be completely stopped, especially when combined with Brittain Brown—both top 5 in the PAC-12. Oregon’s RB CJ Verdell would have been the difference maker but he’s out for the season with injury and Travis Dye won’t be able to keep up with UCLA’s one-two punch on the ground. I think UCLA upsets Oregon this coming Saturday, and if they do will go on to win the PAC-12 South.
OK, back to reality. It was the DTR show once again for UCLA with their Senior QB completing 80% of his passes for 183 yards, 2 TD’s, and no interceptions as well as rushing 12 times for 87 yards and an additional score. Add on three extra points and a field goal and that’s all the scoring the Bruins needed against a Washington team that continues to struggle on offense as they rushed for less than 100 yards and their QB Dylan Morris threw more interceptions than he did TD’s—now 8 and 8 on the year.
It’s actually surprising that UCLA didn’t score more points in this one as the Husky defense, for years the backbone of the team, notched zero sacks and only 2 tackles for loss. It’s almost as though the entire team has suddenly come to the realization that Head Coach Jimmy Lake, who was barely able to recruit a class in the Top-50 nationally and let the nation’s 4th ranking pro-style passer slip away to UCLA via the portal, is no Chris Petersen. I guess in all fairness, hardly anyone is. But Lake’s stubborness to change and admit his mistakes is hurting the team’s chances to win while keeping someone else on the bench who might be a better solution on the field.
After throwing an interception on their first possession, Morris’ 7th on the year, Washington scored first on a field goal near the end of the 1st Qtr. Six plays and 75 yards later UCLA went up 7-3 on a DTR 17 yard pass to Kam Brown for a TD and added a field goal of their own as well as another TD by the break. Washington tied the game back up at 17 a piece halfway through the 3rd Qtr, but UCLA’s 13 play, 90 yard, near six minute drive would put them back in front 24-17 on a DTR 9 yard pass to Greg Dulcich for a TD. Washington’s last chance evaporated on the 7th play of their ensuing drive when QB Dylan Morris threw up his 2nd interception of the game and 8th on the year. With less than five minutes left the Bruins took to the ground and between DTR and Zach Charbonnet ran the clock out.
Like every other team that travels to Arizona, Washington gets a chance on a short week this coming Friday, October 22nd, to win another game and feel good about themselves for a week before continuing to Palo Alto to take on Stanford. After that it’s back home for back-to-back games against Oregon and Arizona State. After the Oregon game at home, UCLA travels to Salt Lake for a crucial PAC-12 South Division match-up against Utah—a game the Bruins must win.