LINCOLN, Neb.—Jim Mora predicted it.
Heading into his team’s emotionally-charged Saturday matchup with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a 41-21 Bruins victory, UCLA’s second-year coach understood that once the first whistle sounded and the opening ball was kicked, Nebraska would be ready to play.
Following a touching moment of silence and release of yellow and blue balloons to remember the loss of UCLA wide receiver Nick Pasquale, the Cornhuskers proved him right.
Nebraska had its way with the UCLA defense for much of the first half, jumping out to a 21-3 lead, thanks to three touchdown passes from Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez, with 7:12 left to play in the second quarter.
For the Bruins, the start of this game led to so many pressing thoughts, all at once. They wanted to live up to their expectations as the nation’s No. 16 team in front of 91,471 fans. They wanted to make every play to honor Pasquale. The range of emotions faced by the Bruins led to blown assignments, underthrown passes and mental errors, and it showed on the scoreboard.
“Emotions were on a roller coaster the entire week,” Mora said. “I felt like what happened in the first quarter-and-a-half in the game is that we were trying so hard, we were trying so hard to make something good happen that we were tight.”
Without their rhythm and without much production offensively, the Bruins had their backs against the wall. When UCLA got the ball back with 2:24 left to play in the half and quickly dug itself into a third-and-12 hole, redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley delivered.
On what Mora called the “play of the season,” Hundley avoided two Nebraska defensive linemen before barreling to the right, evading the defense just long enough to tip-toe for a thirteen yard gain, extending the drive. The Bruins scored on a rushing touchdown by redshirt freshman running back Paul Perkins three plays later, shortening the deficit to 21-10 heading into the break.
“That may be overstating it because we have ten more regular season games to go, but it was the play of this game,” Mora said. “I don’t like to point to a singular play in a game because I think there’s so many that make a difference, but right then, right there, we had to make a play and Brett made it.”
Hundley and a high-intensity UCLA (2-0) offense would make countless more plays from that moment forward. In just a quarter, the Bruins turned a 21-10 Cornhusker advantage into a 38-21 UCLA lead behind the arm of their quarterback, who threw for 141 yards and three touchdowns in the third frame alone.
“We’re a fast-paced offense, and when we get rolling it’s hard to stop,” Hundley said. “That’s sort of what we thrive off of. One-on-one matchups and we make them miss then it’s off to the races.”
UCLA’s defense had its misses in the first half, allowing No. 23 Nebraska to compile 196 yards of total offense. In the second half, the Bruins contained those mistakes, cutting the Cornhuskers’ yards allowed in half and limiting the trailing Huskers (2-1) to just eight first downs.
Senior linebacker Anthony Barr led the spirited defensive effort, recording a team-high 11 tackles and forcing three fumbles. A roommate of Pasquale’s over the summer, Barr said that the Bruins played with Pasquale’s spirit, which he said was fitting given the team’s dominating, come-from-behind second-half performance.
“Yeah, I don’t think he would have it any other way,” said Barr of Pasquale. “I’m sure if he was here, he’d be going crazy, going nuts on the sideline. We miss him.”