Every UCLA football Saturday has so much more to it than a win or a loss. That’s why each postgame Monday, the Daily Bruin will break down the Bruins’ most recent game, outlining the good, the bad and the verdict for their performance.
This week, we take a closer look at UCLA’s 17-7 win over Arizona on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.
The Good: Defense smothers top Pac-12 offense
Arizona had been flourishing under coach Rich Rodriguez’s offensive system all season. The Wildcats were averaging 40.6 points per game and a conference-high 541.9 yards per game, their offense propelling them to a 6-1 record and the No. 12 ranking.
The Bruins stopped them cold.
UCLA held Arizona to 255 yards – less than half its average yardage – and just seven points. The Wildcats went the final 57:29 without scoring.
Arizona redshirt freshman quarterback Anu Solomon completed just 18 of his 48 passing attempts for 175 yards, as he was swarmed by UCLA’s defensive front nearly every play. The Bruins finished with three sacks but seemed to constantly be in the backfield forcing errant throws or breaking up Arizona’s read option.
For a defense with so many talented players, UCLA hasn’t dominated this season the way its talent suggested. That changed Saturday.
For the first time, the Bruins played a a full four quarters of solid, disciplined defense and looked like they deserved all the preseason accolades.
The Bad: Penalties
For the second consecutive week, UCLA was its own worst enemy – committing double-digit penalties. The Bruins appeared on their way to making the wrong kind of history after committing nine penalties for 98 yards in the first half alone.
What made matters worse for the Bruins was the timing of such penalties, as multiple fouls came on third or fourth down, extending Wildcat drives. None were bigger than the personal foul call on sophomore linebacker Myles Jack on a third-and-7 early in the first quarter. The penalty gave Arizona new life, as the team scored its only points of the game a play later, a 14-yard touchdown pass from Solomon to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Cayleb Jones.
The bright side for the Bruins is that they cleaned up many of their mistakes in the second half, committing just two penalties in the final two quarters.
“The emphasis was just: “Don’t go out and hurt yourself.” We went in the locker room (and) told everyone to take a deep breath,” said UCLA redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley. “We were kicking ourselves and (told ourselves), ‘If we just take a deep breath, play our game, no flags, we’re going to come out victorious,’ and that’s what we did in the second half.”
The Verdict: One step closer to UCLA’s goal
UCLA is in must-win territory for the remainder of the season, and this victory means it is one win closer to claiming the Pac-12 South.
With UCLA’s win and Utah’s loss to Arizona State, UCLA jumped from fifth place in the Pac-12 South to third, behind Arizona State and USC. At 4-2 in conference play, the Bruins are just half a game behind the Trojans and one game behind the Sun Devils.
UCLA doesn’t control its own destiny, however. Since Arizona State has just one conference loss, it needs to lose once more for the Bruins to win the Pac-12 South.
If UCLA wins the remainder of its games – a win over USC would jump the Bruins ahead of the Trojans – and Arizona State loses one of its final three Pac-12 games, the Bruins would finish tied with the Sun Devils. And since UCLA beat Arizona State earlier this season, it holds the tiebreaker.
So while several things still need to happen for the Bruins, Saturday’s win kept their hopes alive.
Player of the Game: No. 23 redshirt senior safety Anthony Jefferson
This honor really should go to everyone on the UCLA defense as the group turned in its finest performance of the year in shutting down Arizona’s potent offense. Jefferson gets the nod because of his seven tackles – behind only sophomore defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes – and game-high four pass breakups.
Jefferson and the entire UCLA secondary were very active Saturday, flying to the ball and giving Solomon tight windows to throw. The redshirt freshman completed just 37.5 percent of his passes, and much of that had to do with the excellent coverage the Bruins got out of their defensive backs, led by Jefferson.
Quote of the Game: Hundley on moving past the pressure of his NFL aspirations to continue to run the ball effectively instead of showcasing his passing
“When you want to go to the next level, you want to show people that you can do things. Sometimes it changes your game, honestly. I just sat down and sort of thought and had a deep conversation with my aunt and just talked to her about the transition (to the NFL). People don’t realize how much pressure there is, but I think that, at the end of the day, when you think of what got you to this point, you have to stay to your foundation … and that’s what I had to do, and this game showed it.”
Compiled by Kevin Bowman and Jordan Lee, Bruin Sports senior staff.