The most memorable of UCLA’s third-down foibles Saturday night came early in the second quarter, when USC running back Ronald Jones II burst through the line on a third-and-one and scampered 60 yards to the end zone to tie the game at 14.
That play seemed to shift the momentum of the game, as the Bruins would not score again while the Trojans would put up another 22 points, but it was far from the only third-down failure for UCLA.
Both defensive coordinator Tom Bradley and offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu harped on their unit’s third-down struggles during postgame press conferences. The Bruins succeeded on just two of their 11 third-down attempts and allowed the Trojans to convert on 12 of their 21 tries.
UCLA’s defense, as USC coach Clay Helton pointed out after the game, entered the night allowing conversions on just 32.5 percent of opponents’ third downs, but the Trojans’ third-down prowess – Saturday was their third straight game converting over 50 percent – trumped the Bruins’ strength.
[Related: UCLA football suffers 36-14 defeat to rival school USC.]
Combine that with the offense’s difficulties extending drives, and you have a recipe that leads to UCLA recording a time of possession barely over 16 minutes.
“After the first quarter, we struggled to stay on the field and struggled to get off the field,” said UCLA coach Jim Mora. “They did a heck of a job. It was just a really tough and humbling night.”
Both of the Bruins’ two third-down conversions on offense came in the first quarter. After that, UCLA failed on its final eight third-down attempts.
“We didn’t make the plays on third downs that we would like to – to move the chains and stay on a consistent basis,” Polamalu said. “You have to convert those third downs to stay on schedule and move on.”
Polamalu said part of the blame for the third-down struggles had to be placed on inefficiencies on first and second down. Four of the UCLA offense’s third-downs came with nine or more yards to get, while just three came with under four yards needed.
“We had too many third-and-longs,” Polamalu said. “If you’re successful on first down, efficient where you get four or more yards, it’s easier to call the plays. Those third-and-longs are very difficult, and you just hold your breath that somebody makes a play.”
On the other hand, 14 of USC’s 21 third-downs came with four or fewer yards left to go. The Trojans converted seven of those 14.
“Getting off the field on third downs has always been one thing we’ve been good at,” Bradley said. “Tonight that wasn’t the case.”