PASADENA — The football game at the Rose Bowl today is exhibit A for proof that time of possession and total yardage are irrelevant stats in football.
At the half, No. 24 UCLA leads Colorado 21-6 on the scoreboard, but trails significantly in almost every other statistical category.
The Buffaloes have run 61 plays compared to the Bruins’ 21. Colorado amassed 22:14 in time of possession compared to UCLA’s 7:46. It has had four red zone trips compared to UCLA’s one. And it gained 278 yards compared to UCLA’s 197.
The Bruins rendered all those stats irrelevant with their two plays of 80-plus yards in the first half.
The first of those plays came on defense. With UCLA defending its own goal line with a 7-0 lead in the second quarter, redshirt junior cornerback Ishmael Adams snatched an interception and raced to the opposite end of the field 96 yards for a touchdown.
The second play came later in the second quarter, after UCLA had allowed an 11-play, 57-yard drive to Colorado that ended in a field goal. On the first play of the subsequent possession, redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins went 82 yards untouched for a touchdown. All of a sudden, UCLA held a 21-3 lead.
Colorado came back down to score a field goal at the end of the first half, but was done in by its red zone woes. The Buffaloes failed to score a touchdown on any of their red zone trips, and missed a field goal as well.
Recap of UCLA’s first-half offense
UCLA’s offense hasn’t been on the field much, and has had three drives that went three-and-out. The one big drive that UCLA had resulted in a 31-yard touchdown pass to Perkins on a screen pass out of the backfield. Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen had a solid first half for the Bruins, going 7-for-11 for 94 yards, but his stats were buoyed by Perkins’ 31 yards after catch.