Both teams scored a TD on their first possessions of this one and were tied up 17-17 at the break, getting Bruin fans pretty excited about a possible upset. But the LSU defense put a vice grip on UCLA the second half, holding them to three punts and an interception, while adding another 17 points of their own to win it 34-17 in Baton Rouge. The Tiger’s QB, Junior Garrett Nussmeier, connecting multiple times to seven different receivers was 32-of-44 for 352 yards, no interceptions, and 3 TD’s to Freshmen Caden Durham and Kyle Parker as well as Junior WR Zavion Thomas. On the ground the Tigers rushed 27 times with Senior RB Josh Williams getting about half of those carries for 62 of the 103 total rushing yards. On the other side of the ball the LSU defense accounted for five sacks, five tackles for loss and three pass disruptions as well as 50 tackles.
Spreading the ball out multiple times to seven different receivers Bruin QB Ethan Garbers was 22-of-36 for 281 yards, 1 pick, and 2 TD’s—one to Senior WR Logan Loya and one to Sophomore Tight End Jack Pedersen—as well as rushing 5 times for minus 51 yards. Not counting Garbers ground game to the left on the number line the Bruins rushed 14 times for 65 yards. But even sitting 1st and goal at the LSU 1 yard line couldn’t put points on the board. Due to the second half shut-down of the Bruin offense LSU dominated the game stats and led in first downs, 26-to-17; passing yards, 352-to-281; and rushing yards, 102-to-14 in addition to seven more minutes time-of-possession. The Tigers also successfully converted on third down over 65% of the time compared to 40% for the Bruins. The only category that UCLA led in at the end of the game was penalties, 9-for-80 yards compared to just 22 yards in penalties for the Tigers.
Remembering how pissed off LSU head coach Brian Kelly was after the Week-1 loss at home to USC—slamming the table and talking to reporters about how angry he was with the team—when he said the following after this game it didn’t surprise me: “Wish we were cleaner in the first half. The mistakes are maddening [but] those are the guys we got. There’s nobody getting traded. We’re going to keep working with them and they’re going to turn the corner.” Wow-let’s talk a little about abdicating responsibility and throwing your team under the buss. Maybe he misses the corporal punishment he used to be able to administer to the team at that Catholic school he used to work at. Sorry, it’s my sarcastic dark passenger talking—not like Dexter or anything—but dark none the less. I’m beginning to really not like him much and there are lots of reasons from his past for me to feel that way. Maybe more on that later.
For the Bruins, they have had short periods of brilliance but are struggling with Bieniemy’s West Coast system that has them ranked near the bottom of the FBS in points per game. Both QB Ethan Garbers and RB T. J. Harden have regressed in it but are working hard to execute it correctly. Garbers won’t do well until the running game can get untracked and with Harden, who rushed for over 800 yards last year, just averaging 24 yards a game is very discouraging. In Ben Bosch’s recent article for the Los Angeles Times entitled, “E.B., what are you doing? Eric Bieniemy blames himself for UCLA’s rocky start,” he writes; “Players have conceded the play calls are long and wordy, Garbers saying he had filled seven or eight notebooks with plays he repeatedly copied as part of his efforts to learn the system. A few days before the Bruins played Indiana, wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant said teammates were headed to Garbers’ home that night to study the plays. Are struggles learning terminology part of the reason the Bruins often look lost on the field?” Bosch points out that Bieniemy, “pointed to the team’s strong practice performance and impressive drive near the end of the first half against Indiana when the Bruins drove 78 yards in nine plays for a touchdown, as evidence of this offense’s potential and commented; When it’s all said and done, we just need to come out and play like we practice, you know? A part of that is getting our guys to understand, just relax and go play. It’s still a game, it’s one of the best team sports that there is, but it’s still a game and you have to enjoy what you do.” It’s going to be a learn by doing experience for the Bruins and with their schedule the lessons are going to be hard earned with No. 8 Oregon at home this coming Saturday and then No. 9 Penn State on the road. They could easily be sitting with a record of 1-4 come October 12th, but would still have time to become bowl eligible if they’ve turned it around by then.