SANTA CLARA – The first half of the Foster Farms Bowl was a defensive coordinator’s nightmare.
Both UCLA and Nebraska put on an offensive show, racking up a combined 492 yards and 42 points. UCLA did it through the air, freshman quarterback Josh Rosen completing 13 of his 17 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Nebraska did it on the ground, racking up 151 rushing yards against the porous UCLA rush defense. In all, the half was a back-and-forth affair, neither team able to gain an advantage in the frigid Santa Clara night.
The first half began with a solid UCLA drive, the Bruins taking the ball 79 yards and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown by redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins. Two big plays made up most of the Bruins’ yards, a 32-yard sweep left by Perkins followed several plays later by a 22-yard 4th-and-1 pass to Thomas Duarte that took the Bruins to the Nebraska 1.
Nebraska struck back immediately after, penalties aiding a 75-yard scoring drive. The Cornhuskers appeared to be stymied in their own half as a third-down pass flew wide – but a holding penalty on UCLA gave Nebraska new life. The team capitalized on this second wind, taking advantage of UCLA’s porous run defense time and time again, scoring on senior I-back Imani Cross’s touchdown to the left side.
After UCLA whiffed on its following drive, Nebraska seemed on its way to yet another long drive, bruising its way 67 yards down the field. But as the Cornhuskers entered the Bruin red zone, they coughed up the ball, quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. giving it away on an attempted quarterback keeper.
Three plays later, UCLA made Nebraska pay for its mistakes, freshman quarterback Josh Rosen unleashing a 60-yard bomb to junior wideout Kenneth Walker III. Walker beat his man, cutting to the left and into the end zone to put the Bruins up 14-7.
Nebraska’s next drive fizzled out, and the Bruins once again struck, two screen passes leading them to a touchdown that made the score 21-7.
Freshman running back Soso Jamabo and sophomore running back Nate Starks were the beneficiaries this time around, the latter providing the scoring punch for the Bruins. But as seven minutes remained in the half, Nebraska prevented things from getting too far out of hand. The Cornhuskers feasted on big plays, moving 75 yards in just four plays. The key play of the drive was a screen pass to junior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp, who broke several tackles on a 28-yard dash deep into the Bruin red zone.
The team also benefitted from UCLA’s lack of discipline, getting 15 free yards on a personal foul down the right sideline. Nebraska would even the score again two drives later. After UCLA was forced to punt, Nebraska mixed a steady diet of short plays with big gains to move 73 yards for a game-tying score.
Taking advantage of UCLA’s rush defense again, the Cornhuskers ran the ball on the last five plays of the drive, gaining 53 yards and a touchdown. UCLA would get one more chance to score in the seconds that remained, but a Rosen interception down the left sideline ended that hope, destining the teams to enter halftime with the score knotted evenly. Any deadlock would have to be broken in the second half.
Compiled by Anay Dattawadkar, Bruin Sports staff