It seemed only fitting that UCLA’s three biggest flaws would be exposed in the team’s biggest game, on the season’s biggest stage.
Those three flaws were: run defense, penalties and punting. They all cost the Bruins earlier in the season, but never more so than on Saturday – when UCLA lost to crosstown rival USC for the first time in three years, by a score of 40-21.
The No. 22 Bruins (8-4, 5-4 Pac-12) allowed the Trojans (8-4, 6-3) to amass 235 rushing yards on 59 attempts, wilting at the line of scrimmage on multiple plays. In the second half, USC wore UCLA down considerably, averaging 5 yards per carry on its 25 run plays.
SPECTRUM GALLERY: UCLA loses to USC 40-21, ending three-year win streak
It wasn’t a matter of deception or trickery by USC, it was simply ground-and-pound, smash-mouth football. The Bruins just couldn’t match the physicality of their Trojan counterparts up front.
“Just couldn’t seem to get them into that third-down mode later in the game,” said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley, whose team allowed 5.3 yards per carry on 12 first-down rushes in the second half. “I thought earlier (in the game), when we got them into third down, our third-down efficiency was pretty good. We just couldn’t get into enough third-and-longs to get off the field.”
Aside from the poor run defense – which was by far UCLA’s main problem on Saturday – penalties once again played a factor in a Bruin demise. It wasn’t that the Bruins had a slew of penalties, they just committed one at the worst time.
The fatal penalty flag came late in the third quarter, on UCLA’s most explosive drive of the game. The Bruins – trailing 33-21 – had moved the ball all the way down to the USC 24-yard line in just three plays. With another 11-yard run by sophomore running back Nate Starks, a touchdown seemed imminent.
But as Starks got up to celebrate his run into the USC red zone, that ominous yellow flag arose, and the Bruins were stripped of all their momentum. Instead of a first-and-10 play at the USC 13, they faced second-and-15 at the USC 29. UCLA had two straight incompletions after that, missed the ensuing field goal, and didn’t score again for the rest of the game.
“We went down, and we started pressing,” said redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins. “And versus a good team like USC, you can’t press and try to do things that you normally wouldn’t do.”
READ MORE: UCLA vs. USC Gameday Page
Perkins said that the pressing began late in the first half, when UCLA allowed a 42-yard punt-return touchdown by USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson. That play was largely a result of another chronic problem for UCLA this season: poor punt execution.
Senior Matt Mengel, punting from his own end zone, lofted a low, fluttering punt that only hung in the air for 2.8 seconds. The line-drive punt immediately put UCLA in a precarious position against one of the most dangerous punt returners in the nation. Seven second later, Jackson was in the end zone.
“The more times (Jackson) touches it, it’s playing with poison,” said coach Jim Mora. “We did a good job (defending Jackson) except for that play. Those ‘except for’ plays are certainly a difference.”
Except for run defense, penalties and punting, the Bruins could have very well been 11-1 this season. But instead, with those problems constantly manifesting, UCLA stares at an 8-4 record and another year bereft of a Pac-12 title.