A first half that went so well for UCLA quickly turned into a nightmare, as the team collapsed in the final minutes, giving up two scores and the lead to head into the locker room down 20-14 at halftime.
The half started with both teams trying to find their rhythm, before UCLA put together a series of strong drives to take a 14-10 lead with nine minutes left in the second quarter. From there, though, a series of Bruin mistakes allowed the Trojans to capitalize and steal the momentum at the half’s end.
The first quarter opened with a pair of three-and-outs in which both teams largely passed the ball. USC then turned to its run game, with running back Ronald Jones igniting the offense en route to a game-opening field goal.
UCLA was not able to score on the next drive; it did, however, win the field position battle as it forced a USC punt after pinning the Trojans at their own 2-yard line. The Bruins took advantage right away, freshman quarterback Josh Rosen and redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins combining to take the team to the USC 19-yard line. There, facing a fourth-and-1, the Bruins saw Perkins stumble short of the marker only to prop himself up and surge forward into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown that put the Bruins up 7-3.
Three drives later, USC would strike back, two deep passes to junior wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster unlocking the Bruin defense and taking the Trojans down to the Bruin 1-yard line, where a quarterback Cody Kessler keeper saw the Trojans regain the lead, 10-3, with 12:04 remaining in the second quarter.
USC’s lead lasted all of two minutes and 10 seconds, as UCLA rode big plays on its eight-play, 76-yard scoring drive. After deep passes and a big Perkins run brought the Bruins to the USC 19-yard line, Rosen slotted a pearl of a pass into junior wideout Thomas Duarte’s yards in the right side of the end zone. On the pass, Rosen first looked right before noticing the inattentive cornerback covering Duarte and unleashing a pass for the touchdown.
From there, the rest of the quarter was disastrous for the Bruins, whose collapse saw them give up the lead in a dizzying stretch.
First came a 15-play, 76-yard USC drive ending in a field goal that saw the Trojans eat up seven minutes of game time.
Then, after three straight incompletions, Rosen was sacked deep in his own territory. Senior unter Matt Mengel’s kick was a low, short drive that landed in the hands of one of the nation’s most dangerous returners – bad news for UCLA. The Trojans’ Adoree’ Jackson surged down the left sideline before cutting inside and running untouched into the end zone for a touchdown that stunned the Bruins.
It seemed like things would get worse, as a quick Bruin three-and-out gave the Tropjans the ball back with a minute left in the half. But a few deep incompletions saw the Trojan drive fizzle out, effectively ending the half.
Compile by Anay Dattawadkar, Bruin Sports staff.