Pasadena, CA – The Pac-12’s regular season finale saw Cal become bowl eligible for the first time in four years as they defeated UCLA in a 33-7 stomping at the Rose Bowl.
UCLA will ride into their new era of Big Ten football on a disappointing note as the Bruins were on the losing end of a tough loss at the hands of their rival, Cal.
After losing three out of the last four games, including two at home to Arizona State and Cal, Bruins head coach Chip Kelly will hear a lot of chatter in the coming weeks about his job security.
Despite the rumors of Kelly being potentially let go after a loss to ASU at home, after the Week 11 win over crosstown rivals, USC, Bruins athletic director Martin Jarmond said rumors of Kelly’s dismissal were inappropriate and inaccurate. It will be interesting to see what UCLA does moving forward regarding their head coach.
UCLA’s offense was off to a hot start as starting quarterback Ethan Garbers was moving the ball down the field quickly in the Bruins opening drive, however 13 plays into the game, Garbers came out of the game and was quickly ruled out with a right arm injury.
Kelly said losing Garbers was hard, but that’s how the game is.
“Losing Garbers was tough…you gotta move on because that’s football, that’s the way the game goes sometimes,” Kelly said.
Dante Moore stepped in relief for the Bruins, but struggled. The freshman quarterback threw for 266 yards, two interceptions, and lost a fumble. UCLA’s offense as a whole struggled to get going as Cal held the Bruins rush attack to just 116 combined yards.
“We moved the ball, but we never converted that to points,” Kelly mentioned.
Jadyn Ott, the Golden Bears’ star running back, was electric with the ball in his hands as he had 189 total yards and one kickoff return touchdown.
Kelly said it was hard trying to contain Ott’s explosive ability.
‘We couldn’t get him off the field,” he said
The Golden Bears’ defense was tasked with shutting down a UCLA offense that put up 38 points against USC and they did just that as they held them scoreless in the second half. That included forcing an astonishing 20% success rate in the redzone as the Bruins were 1-5 in redzone chances.
Moore mentioned that despite his struggles, the team still picked him up.
“I know with my team, they’re always going to be in my corner,” he added.
Moving ahead, the Bruins up-n-down regular season ends with a 7-5 record and they will be awaiting their bowl placement on Dec. 3.
