Unless the pollsters knock Washington completely out of the Top 25 on Sunday the PAC-12 should have another team joining the party as UCLA knocked off the Huskies in the Rose Bowl, 40-32, while playing their best game of the year against their toughest opponent. Other than their first drive and an early 7-0 lead, Washington was playing from behind all game long and never looked as though they would be able to get close enough to overcome the hole they dug until the 4th Qtr. Holding UCLA scoreless after the Bruins TD with 3:46 left in the 3rd Qtr, Washington put together back-to-back TD’s along with a 2-point conversion on either side of forcing UCLA to punt to get within 8 points, 40-32, with 1 tick shy of four minutes left in the game. But the Bruins put together their best drive of the final quarter to preserve the victory on the backs of RB Zach Charbonnet and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson who ran the ball four consecutive times to eat the clock and move the sticks and then, while facing a 3rd and 5 at the Washington 45 with 1:27 left in the game, completing a 6 yard pass to 6’ 6” Junior TE Hudson Habermehl for the 1st down and the victory.
As much as I’ve been excited for Washington’s turn-around this year I was happy for the Bruins and this win that should put them and their head coach Chip Kelly back on the map nationally. If you read Kelly’s comments at the PAC-12 Media Day back in late July he talked a lot about his 6’ 5” outside WR transfer from Duke Jake Bobo who led the ACC in receptions in 2021 while playing for the Blue Devils, his Senior RB Zach Charbonnet who came into his own last season while rushing 202 times for over 1,100 yards, and his 5th year Senior QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson who has stuck it out and continued to improve each year. With the Huskies being ranked and their QB Michael Penix-Jr coming into the game leading the nation in passing you got the sense all game long that these three guys and the UCLA defense were determined to make a point—and boy did they.
Thompson-Robinson, Bobo, and Charbonnet accounted for seven of UCLA’s eight TD’s on the night with Dorian Thompson-Robinson connecting on over 70% of his passes for 315 yards, 3 TD’s and no interceptions while also rushing for 53 yards and another score. In Thompson-Robinson’s 1st year under center his completion percentage was 58%, last year it was 62%, and this year it’s 74% with already half the yards he threw all of last season with 11 TD’s and only 1 interception. Senior WR Jake Bobo, while averaging over 20 yards a reception, collected six in this one for 142 yards and 2 TD’s while Charbonnet just couldn’t be stopped, rushing 22 times for 124 yards and a TD as well. Props to the Bruin defense that accounted for a Safety, an interception that led to a UCLA TD, and making the Husky running game look anemic while rushing 23 times for just 65 yards.
You could tell in the interview after the game that Thompson-Robinson was still in competition mode as he commented that; “People were saying all week that we’re the worst 4-0 team out there and writing us off. I think my boys came here with a chip on their shoulder. I think I told y’all on Monday, see if Washington can run with us, not the other way around.” He was certainly right about that as the Bruins averaged 4.7 yards per carry on the ground while rushing for a total of 184 yards on 39 carries. As the AP pointed out in their review for ESPN; “The Bruins have also won eight straight dating to last season — their longest unbeaten streak since 2005 [while scoring] at least 40 points in six of those victories.”
Let’s face it, it was that unexpected win over Michigan State that helped push Washington up into the Top 25 to start with. But with the Spartans only scoring 7 points the very next week against Minnesota and UCLA only punting once in this contest and turning the ball over just twice on downs, it turns out that Washington’s defense isn’t all that after all. As the AP wrote regarding Washington in the Take Away for the game; “The Huskies were ranked near the bottom of the conference in pass defense as their secondary had plenty of problems trying to contain Thompson-Robinson and Bobo.” Washington Sophomore WR Rome Odunze was the Huskies biggest scoring threat collecting 8 receptions for 116 yards and 2 TD’s while QB Michael Penix-Jr. was 33-of-48 for 345 yards, 4 TD’s and 2 picks—one really costly down near their own red zone that led to a UCLA TD. Between that and a fumble by Penix at their own 6 yard line that led to a safety, the Huskies made too many mistakes in this one to win and won’t be able to win going forward just on the back of their talented QB without fixing their running game and shoring up their pass defense.
If UCLA does break into the Top 25, and I suspect they will, they’ll be tested right away as they’ll host a very tough Utah team in the Rose Bowl this next Saturday. If they can get over the Utes who knows how far they’ll go. Probably happy to not be playing at home after their loss, Washington should be able to right the ship as they’ll be heading out to Sun Devil stadium to take on the hot mess that is Arizona State.