Josh Rosen couldn’t care less about his stats.
UCLA’s junior quarterback has thrown for a nation-leading 2,105 yards and 17 touch downs, including a 372-yard, one-touchdown game against Colorado on Saturday.
But underneath Rosen’s superficially gaudy numbers was an up-and-down effort that characterized the Bruins’ offensive inefficiency in their 27-23 win over the Buffaloes.
“Not great,” Rosen said of his performance after Saturday’s game. “But like I said earlier this week, I’d throw for negative yards if it meant that we got a win. I’d take this any day of the week over 800 yards, 10 touchdowns and a loss.”
Rosen flashed his NFL potential on a fleaflicker midway through the second quarter, but threw an interception on his opponent’s side of the field for the third consecutive week. On UCLA’s trick play, Rosen threw a 46-yard dime to redshirt junior receiver Jordan Lasley despite Colorado’s free safety blitzing and getting a clear run at the quarterback.
“I basically knew I had two options there,” Rosen said. “It’s kind of a cool play because as you’re looking back for the pitch, you can kind of see the whole play develop. I looked back and I saw no one was over midfield and as soon as I got the ball, I just had to get it out.”
But in the third quarter, the junior threw his fifth interception of the season, all of which have come in the past three weeks.
Redshirt senior receiver Darren Andrews was one-on-one with a Colorado cornerback down the right sideline, but Rosen underthrew a ball that safety Evan Worthington jumped in front of for the game’s only turnover.
“A couple of throws got away from him early,” said coach Jim Mora. “I think he set the bar so incredibly high, that we all have to be a little bit measured in the evaluations of him.”
Playing from behind against Texas A&M, Memphis and Stanford forced offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch to call more pass plays and inflate Rosen’s numbers, but Saturday’s one-possession contest was more auspicious for a multifaceted offense.
Fisch dialed up an almost even split of running plays to passing plays in the first three quarters – 26 carries compared to 28 throws – particularly emphasizing the ground attack in the red zone.
Inside Colorado’s 20-yard line, UCLA threw five passes compared to running the ball 10 times. Inside the five yard line, the Bruins ran the ball all four times. But the increased dedication to the ground game didn’t exactly pay dividends for the offense.
UCLA finished with 45 pass plays and 35 run plays, the most even run/pass split since their game against Hawai’i in September. But against the Buffaloes, the Bruins averaged only 2.7 yards per rush and 8.3 per pass attempt compared to their season averages of 4.8 and 8.9 respectively heading into Saturday.
“There were some things in the run game that we need to clean up. We had 35 carries for 95 yards – we need to be better than that,” Fisch said. “Our guys understand that the run game allows us to be explosive in the passing game as well.”
Pac-12 injury bug bites Bruins
UCLA was unable to escape the slew of injuries that struck multiple Pac-12 teams on Saturday.
Redshirt sophomore tight end Caleb Wilson suffered a forefoot injury early in the fourth quarter and limped off the field. According to the L.A. Times, that injury will require surgery, and the Bruins’ second-leading pass catcher will miss the rest of the season. Pro Football Focus listed Wilson on its All-American offense watch list through the first four weeks of the season.
Redshirt junior Austin Roberts will likely start at tight end for the rest of the season – he caught two passes for 42 yards and Rosen’s only touchdown pass against Colorado. Redshirt freshman Jordan Wilson is the only other tight end on the roster with a reception this season.
“(Roberts) did a nice job jumping in there and making some nice plays,” Fisch said. “We thought that he had a great opportunity with some matchups, and he’s fast and he’s good. It was nice to get him going a little bit, nice to see another touchdown from him.”