This was a game in which UCLA played really well on the defensive side of the ball but lost to a team whose defense played—as head coach Kyle Whittingham put it after the game; “What adjective is better than great? That’s what our defensive effort was. Tremendous performance by so many defensive players.” In what would be a harbinger of the ultimate outcome many will say that UCLA lost this game right out of the gate on an interception returned for TD on the very first play of the game. Tack on three fumbles and in spite of the Utes failing to extend the lead with a missed field goal on their next possession after the pick, the start of the game seemed to determine the outcome. The Bruins certainly held their own defensively in this one, actually out-tackling Utah 71-65 while collecting eleven tackles-for-loss, as many as their opponent. But it just wasn’t to be.
Athlon Sports in their 2023 college football preview commented regarding UCLA that; “If there’s one area of concern, it’s with the offensive line, which dipped into the portal to add guys . . . to boost a group around mainstay center Duke Clemens.” To that point UCLA, who was averaging 270 yards on the ground through three games, rushed for a head scratching 9 yards on 32 carries. In the air, their Freshman QB Dante Moore got a baptism-by-fire introduction to the always full-to-capacity and deafening crowd noise inside Rice-Eccles Stadium on Utah’s campus in Salt Lake City. Add to that seven sacks and eleven tackles for loss and you’ve got a tough day at the office as Moore posted his worst completion percentage by far, just over 40%, for 234 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception. As pointed out in the AP recap for ESPN; “The Utes haven’t let a freshman quarterback beat them at Rice-Eccles Stadium since Justin Herbert of Oregon in 2016.”
Utah, still without their starting QB Cam Rising, is getting it done with backup Freshman QB Nate Johnson doing a yeoman’s job of managing the game. And in spite of UCLA’s 4 sacks and 11 tackles for loss he was still able to connect on over 50% of his throws for 117 yards, 1 TD, and most importantly no picks. On the ground UCLA held them to just 102 yards on 48 carries, just over 2 yards per touch, leading to no points on the board. Utah had two more 1st Downs but the Bruins had more total yardage in the game. With a little over three minutes left UCLA had a chance tie the game up, but in what turned out to be just a four play drive Utah sacked the Bruin QB two more times—a final defensive exclamation point.