TEMPE, Ariz. – Start slow. Finish fast. That’s how UCLA football took to its first half against Arizona State.
Behind redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley, who did start after doubts about his injured left elbow, UCLA leads Arizona State 27-17 at halftime.
In the beginning, UCLA squandered opportunity after opportunity.
There was the case of three 15-yard personal foul penalities in the game’s first five minutes. One put the Sun Devils in field goal range, which led to a 49-yard Arizona State field goal. The other two gashed the Bruins hopes of scoring on the following offensive drive.
Then were the drops for UCLA. One by junior wide receiver Jordan Payton in the end zone would have been a touchdown. Instead UCLA settled for a field goal.
The Bruins settled for a field goal earlier in the game too. After a forced fumble by sophomore defensive end Eddie Vanderdoes and a UCLA recovery, UCLA received the ball at the ASU 31-yard line, yet couldn’t put the ball in the end zone.
Along with the fumble, redshirt senior safety Anthony Jefferson intercepted a pass for the second of UCLA’s three turnovers of the night.
Aside from the two turnovers, UCLA’s defense was gashed consistently and often in the first half. ASU redshirt junior quarterback Mike Bercovici, starting in place of injured redshirt senior quarterback Taylor Kelly, threw for two touchdowns, two interceptions and 215 yards on 16 for 29 passing.
Both were Arizona State’s only touchdowns of the game.
On the first touchdown pass, Bercovici, on a well-designed play action fake, threw a reverse cross-field pass to redshirt sophomore tight end Kody Kohl for a 5-yard touchdown with 3:43 left in the first quarter.
Later on, Bercovici threw a pinpoint 29-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Cameron Smith for a touchdown. That put ASU up 17-6 with 13 minutes left in the second quarter.
UCLA would then respond with a touchdown of its own. Redshirt freshman wide receiver Eldridge Massington caught a short pass from Hundley, broke a tackler, eluded another defender and ran down the field for an 80-yard touchdown.
With 2:13 left in the second quarter, Hundley hit redshirt sophomore fullback Nate Iese for a 3-yard touchdown pass. That put UCLA up 20-17.
As the second quarter wound down, and the Sun Devils driving, junior cornerback Ishmael Adams finished the first half 180-degree turnaround by intercepting an Arizona State pass and returning it 95-yards for a touchdown.
That put UCLA up 27-17 and left a fork in Arizona State’s hopes of a strong start.
Compiled by Chris Kalra, Bruin Sports senior staff.