PASADENA – Washington State’s Gabe Marks wears the same number, 9, as childhood friend and UCLA senior Jordan Payton. Both receivers duked it out Saturday at the Rose Bowl, leading their teams’ offenses with an average of 7.7 and 10.9 yards per catch, respectively.
The only play that mattered, though, was a 21-yard touchdown pass that found Marks in the end zone with less than five seconds remaining in the game. The Bruins had momentarily regained the lead with just over a minute left, but Cougar quarterback Luke Falk remained composed for one final strike – upsetting No. 19 UCLA 31-27.
“On the last drive, we let the quarterback get outside a couple times. We didn’t do a good job of containing him,” said junior defensive lineman Kenny Clark, who registered three sacks on Falk. “The last play, he scrambled a little bit and was able to make a great throw.”
The Rose Bowl erupted in cheers as UCLA went up 25-24 over Washington State. Rosen then found junior receiver Thomas Duarte for the two-point conversion and the Bruins had a three-point lead with 1:09 to go after trailing for the majority of the second half.
Rosen’s touchdown ignited his team and his fans, but it wasn’t enough. The Bruins had squandered chances in the red zone, scoring only two touchdowns and relying instead on senior kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn to keep them on the scoreboard with four field goals.
“(I was) ecstatic and then real frustrated,” Rosen said. “I don’t think I’ve ever scored that many points on offense with only two touchdowns. We’ve gotta convert.”
UCLA also accumulated 13 penalties for a loss of 75 yards while sacrificing favorable field position to Washington State – errors that caught up with the Bruins as time ticked off the clock.
“Most points we killed ourselves. Stuff that we can do better, not that they did to us,” said sophomore defensive back Jaleel Wadood, who made a crucial interception to set up Rosen’s final drive. “Even though they played a heck of a game, I feel like some stuff we can get better on as a team, as UCLA.”
The loss drops the Bruins to 7-3 on the season, but because of Arizona’s double-overtime upset of Utah Saturday, UCLA still controls its destiny. Should the Bruins manage to pull off road wins against the Utes and the USC Trojans, the team can still clinch the Pac-12 South division.