If there ever was an opportunity to be distracted from the moment, this was it.
UCLA watched its next opponent, then-No. 2 Oregon, lose to Arizona Thursday. Then, as the Bruins waited for their 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at the Rose Bowl, they saw three other top-six teams tumble. The College Football Playoff picture appeared open as ever for UCLA, who entered Saturday ranked No. 8.
But before any of that became relevant, UCLA (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) had to first take care of Utah (4-1, 1-1). And therein lay the problem for the Bruins.
Junior kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a last-second field goal, and UCLA lost its golden chance and the game 30-28.
“You know, a lot of people were quiet,” said redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley of the atmosphere in the locker room following the loss. “A lot of people were quiet cause we knew we missed a big opportunity for us.”
More than just the blown shot at a top-five ranking, UCLA twice was unable to convert on its would-be game-winning field goal, the missed kicks a microcosm of the missed opportunity.
After Fairbairn’s first attempt from 55 yards out with four seconds left sputtered well short, the Bruins were bailed out with a running into the kicker call, a breath of new hope. But five yards closer didn’t change the outcome, as Fairbairn’s mulligan fell wide right.
“It’s all phases, it’s not one play,” Mora said. “Unfortunately it came down to that one play but there were a lot of plays that led up to that play that we needed to make.”
The most glaring plays on the stat sheet were the 10 sacks UCLA surrendered, forcing the offense into a disjointed and ineffective rhythm. But as with the loss, Mora didn’t have enough fingers to point at the culprits of the sack issue.
“Sacks are a component of all 11,” Mora said. “Sometimes it’s the rush, sometimes you get beat, sometimes the quarterback holds it too long, sometimes guys don’t get open, so when we look back on that I think we’ll see it’s a function of all of those things.”
Defensively, UCLA looked poised to have its best game of the season after Utah’s first four drives, allowing the Utes to gain just 16 yards and giving up no first downs.
But Utah countered with a quarterback change, swapping junior Travis Wilson for the more nimble junior Kendal Thompson. UCLA didn’t have an answer.
On his first drive, Thompson quickly picked up the Utes’ first 1st down, then followed with a 42-yard touchdown pass to put Utah up 14-0. Thompson finished with 95 yards passing, but did most of his damage on the ground, where he ran for another 83 yards and escaped several would-be sacks.
Coach Jim Mora admitted he didn’t expect Thompson to play as much as he did, and the Bruins’ inability to stop him reflected that as UCLA struggled all night in edge containment on Thompson’s runs.
“It’s one of those things when you got a mobile quarterback that you’re obviously trying to hold the edges versus pass, but in the run game you have a tendency to open up some seams,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
Trailing 24-14 in the fourth quarter, UCLA finally showed a glimpse of the same dominant offense that stomped on ASU last week, as Hundley connected with junior wide receiver Devin Fuller for a 93-yard touchdown pass.
A few minutes later, UCLA responded to a Utah field goal with a 40-yard touchdown catch by redshirt freshman wide receiver Eldridge Massington to take a 28-27 lead, the Bruins’ first of the night.
But when it came time to step up and deliver the finishing blow on defense, UCLA failed to capitalize.
For nine straight plays, Utah ran the ball. And for nine straight plays UCLA knew what was coming. But the Bruins couldn’t stop the Utes.
Utah drove the ball 63 yards with ease, forcing UCLA to burn all of its timeouts before kicking a 29-yard field goal.
The Bruins were left with 34 seconds to finally grab hold of the lottery ticket the crazy day of college football handed them.
In the end, UCLA became just another member of the statistic – one of five top-eight teams to lose.