Going into their game against UCLA in the Rose Bowl this past Saturday Washington State was averaging 45 points a game and their QB, Cameron Ward, was in the Top-10 nationally in yards-per-game at 347.5 (second only to Husky Michael Penix-Jr in the PAC-12) with 13 TD’s and zero picks all the while connecting on about 75% of his passes. On Saturday, in a 25-17 loss to the Bruins, Ward connected on less than 50% of his passes for just under 200 yards, 1 TD, and 2 interceptions prompting Cougar head coach Jake Dickert to hail UCLA as having the best defense in the entire conference—and he wouldn’t be wrong. UCLA and Oregon are sitting in the Top-10 of defenses nationally and the Bruins, above even the vaunted Utah defense, are allowing the fewest rushing yards-per-game at 64.6, 12.2 points-per-game, and 231.8 yards of total offense. In Saturday’s game, the Cougars rushed 19 times for a grand total of just 12 yards—you read that right—just 12 yards. Their Senior RB Nakia Watson actually picked up 25 yards on 11 carries but Ward lost 12 yards on his rushing attempts.
The Bruins didn’t fair much better in the air. Yeah, their Freshman QB Dante Moore did throw for 290 yards compared to Ward’s 197 but his completion percentage was barely better and his result was no better, 1 TD and 2 interceptions—one of those on their first possession of the game leading to a field goal and an early Washington State 3-0 lead. But the Bruins defense forced fumbles on the next two Cougar possessions with the second leading to a 9 play 63 yard drive and 11 yard TD pass from Moore to Senior WR Logan Loya to go up 6-3 early in the 2nd Qtr after a missed PAT. Washington State would help UCLA out again three possessions later after Ward’s second interception led to another Bruin field goal to go up 9-3 with about 3:25 left in the first half. But after holding WSU to a three-and-out on their next possession UCLA got the ball back with just over a minute to play in the 2nd Qtr when Junior DB Kapena Gushiken provided Cougar nation with the most exciting play of the game as he intercepts Dante Moore’s pass on third-and-goal and ran it 88 yards to the house to go up 10-9 at the end of an ugly first half with seven punts, two interceptions, two fumbles and a missed field goal.
The second half, although not quite the mess of the first, still did not provide a whole lot of offense on either side with nine punts total, eight followed by three-and-outs—four of which started off the 3rd Qtr. On UCLA’s 3rd possession of the half and sitting at 4th and 8 on the WSU 14 yard line Place Kicker RJ Lopez hits a field goal from 32 yards out to put the Bruins back up 12-10. But Ward would get it right back in just four plays on two consecutive pass completions to get down to the UCLA 9 yard line where he connected with Nakia Watson to put the Cougars back up 17-12. Struggling in the red zone again on their next possession and sitting at 4th and 4 at the WSU 15 yard line Lopez would attempt a 33 yard field goal but would have it blocked by Cougar Sophomore DB Jayden Hicks. Unable to capitalize, Washington State would turn it back over to the Bruins after yet another three-and-out. This time UCLA would cash in at the end of a 10 play 75 yard drive and Keegan Jones 13 yard TD run to put the Bruins up 18-17 after a missed two-point conversion attempt. It was early in the 4th Qtr with plenty of time left but an interception on the very next play would give the ball back to UCLA who converted four plays later on another Keegan Jones TD run to put the Bruins up 25-17. Although there was still almost 12 minutes left in the game, three more three-and-outs, four punts, and a turnover on downs would eat up the clock with UCLA running it out on four plays with 1:29 left to play.
Although Keegan Jones certainly had plenty of opportunity to celebrate in the end zone with both UCLA rushing TD’s, it was Junior RB Carson Steele who carried the heavy load all day rushing 30 times for 140 yards of the Bruin 180 yard total. Between the eight Cougar three-and-outs and four turnovers, two lost fumbles and two interceptions, UCLA had plenty of extra time with the ball which amounted to over a quarter’s worth of difference regarding time-of-possession leading to a 24-11 disparity in 1st downs and total yards of offense at 470-to-216. With all those three-and-outs, the 15% 3rd down conversion percentage by Washington State wasn’t all that surprising while the Bruins kept moving the chains and were a perfect 3-for-3 on 4th down attempts. The Cougars head back home to take on an Arizona team that took USC into triple overtime before they lost while UCLA heads to Eugene for a match-up of the best defenses in the PAC-12. This may come down to which team has the better place kicker. If it comes down to kicking the winner from 40-49 yards out, nod goes to Oregon’s Senior Camden Lewis.