Man-oh-man, this was a close one with UCLA seeming to work as hard sometimes for their opponent as they did for themselves. But in the end they pulled it off with a successful 10 play, 61 yard, time eating drive resulting in a 24 yard field goal with time expiring to beat South Alabama 32-31 in the Rose Bowl. It shouldn’t have been that close but near the end of the 1st Qtr–and already behind 10-6–on a 2nd and goal at USA’s 1 yard line Senior RB Zach Charbonnet takes the handoff from UCLA Senior QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson and fumbles the ball which was recovered by the Trojans. Twelve plays and 80 yards later South Alabama Junior RB La’Damian Webb runs it into the end-zone to put the Trojans up 17-6. UCLA would come right back on their very next possession to get within four at half time, 17-13, on a DTR TD pass to Senior WR Jake Bobo.
It looked like UCLA was going to own the 2nd half when it started, just like they had the first two games of the season while outscoring their opponents 35-0 after the break. They opened up the 3rd Qtr with another DTR TD pass, this time to Junior WR Kam Brown, and then a Nicholas Barr-Mira 28 yard field goal on their next possession after the Bruin defense caused a Trojan fumble to take a 23-17 lead. South Alabama would come back on their next possession with a TD run by Junior RB Marco Lee at the end of an 8 play 67 yard drive to retake the lead 24-23 followed by a Bruin disaster. On 1st and 10 at the UCLA 30 yard line DTR would run in the wrong direction for a loss of 24 yards down to the UCLA 6 yard line where he fumbled the ball. Two plays later Trojan Senior QB Carter Bradley completes a TD pass to Sophomore WR Caullin Lacy to go up 31-23.
UCLA came right back with a 10 play, 68 yard drive culminating in another DTR TD pass, this time to Junior WR Logan Loya to close within two points, 31-29. The Bruins went for the two-point conversion to tie the game, but failed. The next two possessions for both teams resulted in three-and-outs. With just a little over nine minutes left in the 4th Qtr and possession of the ball South Alabama goes on a slow deliberate 11 play 57 yard drive that puts them at 4th and 2 on the UCLA 22 yard line. Thinking a 5 point lead wouldn’t be enough to win the game, the Trojans fake a field goal with their 3rd string QB and holder Sophomore Tanner McKee shifting into a shotgun formation that went no where–sacked for an 11 yard loss by Senior LB Carl Jones Jr.
The AP Recap for ESPN got Head Coach Chip Kelly’s take on the play afterwards: “We had talked all week long about some type of trickeration. Sometimes that happens when you have Group of Fives playing Power Fives. I thought that our guys did a really good job of defending it. I saw Carl (Jones Jr.) coming off the edge, and then it was really a big play by our defense when we needed one.” Jones said; “My eyes lit up when they hiked it and No. 10 was looking for somebody to pass the ball to. The only thing that was on my mind was go get him. This could be a chance to change the game, and that’s what happened, we changed the game.” With just under three minutes on the clock the Bruins went on a perfectly executed 10 play 61 yard drive to put their Junior Place Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira in perfect position to kick the game winning field goal. And, UCLA starts the season 3-0. Better yet, they get to host Colorado in their PAC-12 Conference opener next week—a game that no doubt will be the easiest of their first four. They should be undefeated when they get their first real test in Week-5 at home against a surging Washington Husky team.