TEMPE, Ariz. — A bat in the press room. A background of consistent lightning from the east. A hot mic on the referee that was stuck in the on position.
Halloween might as well have come early on a Saturday night in Tempe.
The product on the field was almost equally frightening to watch as UCLA heads to the locker room tied 3-3 with Arizona State at the half. From the opening kickoff, things on offense just seemed a little bit off.
Freshman kicker J.J. Molson missed wide left on the first drive of the game from 46 yards out. Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen fumbled to end the next drive, leading to a Sun Devil field goal.
Then the real horror began for the Bruins. Rosen took a huge hit and got up limping. He tried playing through it for most of the half but was getting worked on at the training table every time the UCLA defense was on the field.
Eventually, Rosen called it a half and headed to the locker room early, leaving redshirt senior quarterback Mike Fafaul the keys of an offense that only managed 16 yards on the ground.
The one saving grace for the Bruins was the defense, holding Arizona State without a scoring drive outside of the field goal coming after Rosen’s fumble at UCLA’s own 23-yard line.
Junior linebacker Kenny Young recovered a fumble and redshirt senior defensive back Fabian Moreau picked up an interception, but UCLA just couldn’t capitalize on any opportunities.