Pasadena, CA – UCLA’s upset of the unranked Washington did not unfold as they were unable to pull off a fairytale ending at the Rose Bowl for perhaps their final game as the crowd cheered while others veered their anger towards the Bruins’ AD, demanding his resignation as he stood by himself behind the team on the sidelines in seemingly disbelief or despair for such a disappointing loss, 48-14.
Bruins was down by two touchdowns leading up to halftime when a fake field goal attempt converted into a breakaway touchdown for the Huskies to go up 20-0.
Huskies extended their lead right out of halftime, to 34, while the Bruins piled on penalties with missteps by both teams, offense and defense, respectively.
“We just couldn’t stop the bleeding,” interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “They just kept making plays, and making plays. Turnovers are always going to kill you.“
UCLA continued to fight throughout the game regardless of the score disparity and forced a fumble in the final period that led to a 13-yard run touchdown. “
“Always much love for the fans that stayed throughout all four quarters, even on our Bruin Walk there were a lot of people, supporting us and things,” interim coach Skipper said. “That felt good…Tonight, the score wasn’t our way, but we kept fighting. We’ll need to do that next week also.”
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava did not return in the game after being sacked by multiple Huskies resulting into injury timeout then assisting him up on his feet to be escorted off the field. No update came about his status during the postgame press conference. He finished with a total of 69 yards off 16 of 26 passes.
“It’s unfortunate to see him go down again. I hope nothing but the best for his health and he recovers fast,“ UCLA redshirt senior offensive lineman Garrett DiGiorgio said. “It’s honestly a part of the sport we play and we’re forced to face those injuries. All we can do is try and get back as fast as possible and I know that’s what Nico is going to do to prioritize his health and get back to the sport he loves.”
Then entered Luke Duncan, UCLA backup quarterback, came on the field in the third and completed five of 11 passes for 81 yards including a 37-yard touchdown in a play action across centerfield to Mikey Matthews.
“It was huge. Anytime you can create some momentum is good,” UCLA redshirt sophomore defensive back Cole Martin said. “We played our butts off the entire game, and that play sparked us for sure.”
Bruins battled back to beat off a shutout but were overpowered and outplayed by the Huskies in total yards, 426-207.
“I feel like we’re a gritty team and we’re not going to give up even when the odds are stacked against us,” DiGiorgio said. “We’re going to play all four quarters, no matter what happens. I think that those momentum swings just made us want to play a little bit harder.”
Washington (8-3, 5-3 Big 10) quarterback Demond Williams Jr. completed 17 of 26 passes for 213 yards and two passing touchdowns. He ran for total of 56 yards plus a couple of rush touchdowns.
UCLA (3-8, 3-5) faces next Saturday on November 29th crosstown rival USC in its final regular-season Big 10 game. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m. (PT). Bruins away game will be nationally televised by NBC at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
