TUCSON, Ariz. “”mdash; The UCLA football team may not be able to move the ball effectively on offense, but it sure can intercept passes.
The Bruins find themselves trailing the Arizona Wildcats 13-3 at halftime, a score that could be much worse if not for the Bruins’ ability to come away with turnovers.
The UCLA offense has amassed just 97 yards of total offense on 28 plays as redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince has had a rough day. Playing in his first road game since Sept. 12 at Tennessee, Prince has completed six-of-12 passes for 58 yards.
Christian Ramirez was a surprise start for Bruins and has 18 yards on five carries. Johnathan Franklin entered the game midway through first quarter and has 26 yards on five carries.
After the Bruins were able to move the ball only 13 yards on their first possession, the Wildcats looked poised to continue their recent tremendous play on offense, driving the ball 56 yards to the UCLA 26-yard line. On 1st and 10, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles threw a pass that deflected off the hands of David Douglas and into the hands of UCLA safety Rahim Moore.
After the Bruins could not take advantage of the turnover and were forced to punt, Arizona scored the first points of the game on a 41-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Juron Criner that put the Wildcats up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.
While the Bruins could not make the Wildcats pay for turning the ball over, Arizona proved it could. On the first play of the Bruins’ next possession, Prince did not see the corner blitz and fumbled the football, giving the ball back to the Wildcats. Three plays later, Nic Grigsby ran the ball for a six-yard touchdown. The Bruins blocked the ensuing extra-point attempt to keep the game at 13-0.
Moore came up with his second interception of the game near the start of the second quarter, with the Wildcats driving deep in UCLA territory.
The interception set up the Bruins’ lone score of the half, a 52-yard field goal by Kai Forbath that cut the deficit to 13-3.
The Bruins’ third interception came late in the second quarter when defensive end Korey Bosworth deflected the pass, and defensive tackle Jerzy Siewierski came up with the ball.