Run of the Year: Jack Bursts Through
Myles Jack reached the first-down marker to convert a third-and-2 by doing all that coaches could reasonably ask of a situational offensive player. One cut to the outside later, the former track relay athlete exploded down the right sideline and swatted away a few desperate arm tackles en route to six points and national stardom. The well-blocked 66-yard play, keyed by defensive end Keenan Graham coming out of the backfield to kick out a defensive back, gave Jack a three-for-three stat line on the night with regards to converting third downs. Jack’s early fourth-quarter score, UCLA’s longest rush of the year, proved crucial: The linebacker provided UCLA’s only second-half offensive touchdown in a game the Bruins won by five points. Coaches took notice of the explosive success of the running back experiment, going on to give the freshman 30 carries and an offensive start over the course of the following two weeks against Washington and Arizona State. Jack followed up his debut with 145 yards and five touchdowns in those two games.
Special Teams Play of the Year: Okey-Dokey, Kenny Orjioke
UCLA’s lone defensive and special teams touchdown of the regular season helped to ignite a second-half onslaught against what had been a competitive Nevada team. The Bruins led the unranked Wolf Pack by just four at the half, with the deficit growing to 11 after the first drive of the third quarter. Just four snaps later, UCLA’s punt coverage pushed the Bruins’ advantage to three possessions on the strength of a blocked kick by sophomore outside linebacker Kenny Orjioke. He swam over and ran right past the left end man on the line of scrimmage, then laid his body out on the field to deflect the punt. The ball wound up right near the end zone, bouncing a high, fortuitous bounce away from the Nevada goal line before redshirt junior fullback Phillip Ruhl scooped up the pigskin near the 5-yard line and dove just inside of the right pylon for the score. A gang of special teamers jumped all around and on Ruhl to celebrate, with Orjioke the first person to hug the fullback. From Orjioke’s block on, Nevada would never get within two scores of UCLA again in the 58-20 Bruins win.
Most Memorable Game Turning Point: Hundley’s third-and-12 escape against Nebraska
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley ends the regular season as the UCLA leader in carries and rushing yards. As unusual as those marks are for a quarterback, Hundley’s improvisational skills produced one of the most unlikely first downs of UCLA’s season in the Bruins’ most emotionally charged game of the year. Just six days removed from the death of walk-on Nick Pasquale, the redshirt sophomore and his Bruins found themselves down by 18 in Nebraska with less than two minutes left in the first half.
Offensive tackles Torian White and Simon Goines lost control of their assignments on third-and-12, and two Cornhuskers converged on Hundley near the Bruins’ 30-yard line. Hundley ran to his left and got caught in the arms of the rusher pursuing from his right, but the quarterback spun the contact off, losing ground just a second or two before dodging a defender who laid a hand on the signal caller. He then reversed field toward the right sideline, reaching the ball out just enough toward the first-down marker before running out of bounds.
Redshirt freshman running back Paul Perkins rewarded the efforts of his quarterback by scoring UCLA’s first touchdown with less than a minute left in the half. After Hundley’s escape, the Bruins went on a 38-0 run to get the win.
Hit of the Year: Bruins take workhorse for a spin
Arizona’s offense literally runs through running back Ka’Deem Carey, who owns at least 16 more carries on the year than anyone else in the conference and 1,716 ground yards, despite missing a game. But for one crucial instant in Tucson, Ariz., the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, by no choice of his own, got airborne. The Bruins proceeded to capitalize on a vulnerable Carey in the most crucial part of the field.
The running back took a handoff four yards from the one-yard line before senior inside linebacker Jordan Zumwalt launched from the right into the Wildcat’s lower body and upended Carey. Safety Randall Goforth struck the inverted running back and jarred loose a ball that squirted into the end zone. An Arizona recovery would have earned the Wildcats a score and rendered the hits moot points. But Myles Jack finished off the play by falling on the ball, completing a touchback that preserved a 14-point UCLA lead midway through the third quarter of a game that the Bruins would win 31-26.
Catch of the Year: All Shaq, everything
Redshirt senior wide receiver Shaquelle Evans led all UCLA skill position players with eight touchdowns, yet his most eye-catching catch of the year prevented him from scoring six points. Blitzing Cal linebackers cleared the middle of the field, and Evans appeared to be a 25-yard sprint away from turning daylight into a touchdown. He might have gotten too excited. Evans looked up field before securing the ball, and tumbled to the ground, contacting a bobbled pass with his right hand and both ankles before securing the ball between the backs of his lower legs and his hands. The circus catch netted the Bruins a first down on third-and-5, but Evans would have traded the unusual feat for a score.
“I ended up making a SportsCenter Top 10 play, but I’d rather have the touchdown,” Evans said.
Biggest Letdown: Seeing red zones
UCLA appeared primed to completely erase a 22-point deficit on a decisive drive in the fourth quarter of a game against Arizona State, looking to keep its BCS hopes alive. Brett Hundley’s offense converted for 15 yards on third-and-9 on its own 18 and also put up gains of 11, 15, 19 and 26 on first downs. Six yards separated the Bruins from the end zone and their second lead of the night against the Sun Devils. UCLA would not gain another yard, dropping all the way to the 20-yard line, as a result of Hundley getting tackled for a loss on second down followed by Arizona State’s seventh sack of the night. Coach Jim Mora opted for a field goal with less than five minutes remaining to cut Arizona State’s lead to three, but sophomore kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn sent the offense away empty-handed with a miss to the far right of the goal posts on a 38-yard attempt. Consecutive holding penalties on UCLA’s next and final drive squandered a penetration into Sun Devil territory, leaving the Rose Bowl crowd to wonder about what might have been if UCLA had one or two more effective red zone plays in the earlier possession.
Compiled by Emilio Ronquillo, Bruin Sports senior staff.