Coming off a 49-24 blowout victory over Rice, UCLA is riding high going into its first home game under new head coach Jim Mora.
The Bruin offense came off firing on all cylinders in the first quarter, scoring three touchdowns with two of the scores going for over 70 yards.
Redshirt senior running back Johnathan Franklin led the way with 214 yards rushing and three touchdowns for the game, while redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Hundley completed 21-28 passes for 202 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Hundley also added 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Defensively, the Bruins had mixed results as they surrendered 24 points in the first half only to shut out the Owls in the second half.
Redshirt sophomore inside linebacker Eric Kendricks led the team with 11 tackles while redshirt senior defensive end Datone Jones added four tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.
The Bruins (1-0) now face one of their toughest tasks of the season as the No. 16 Nebraska Cornhuskers (1-0) enter the Rose Bowl coming off a decisive 49-20 victory over Southern Mississippi.
Led by junior quarterback Taylor Martinez, who had 354 yards passing and five touchdowns last week, Nebraska put on a dominant offensive performance gaining over 600 total yards. The Cornhuskers also converted 13 of their 15 third downs in the game.
While UCLA held Rice to only 184 yards passing, the Bruins were porous at times in pass coverage, which will have to improve if the Bruins are to beat the Cornhuskers.
In the running game, UCLA will most likely have one less threat to deal with as Nebraska’s starting running back, Rex Burkhead, sprained his MCL last week against Southern
Mississippi. Burkhead was Nebraska’s leading rusher last season.
In his place, sophomore Ameer Abdullah will carry a majority of the load along with freshman Imani Cross. Abdullah had 83 yards on the ground last week while Cross added 62 yards.
The game will kickoff at 4:30 p.m. and will be televised on Fox.
Compiled by Jacob Ruffman, Bruin Sports senior staff.