Las Vegas, Nevada – Josh Rosen starts where he left off last week completing pass to Jordan Payton for 29 yards for a touchdown to start the game. UCLA shows up in the desert to defeat UNLV 37-3 as the final. UCLA being on the road at UNLV, where Bruins are 12-2 away from home since the start of the 2013 season, including a seven-game road win streak that ranks fourth in the FBS.
The ground game as whole rolling down hill after it got going. Paul Perkins the quiet leader shined with 151 yards on 18 carries with 2 touchdowns. Perkins was quiet in week one but didn’t wait long to show why his was leading rusher in Pac-12 last year. Four other backs were able to get some runs in this blow out. The backfield as whole had 273 yards with 5.9 average which is first down every two carries, what team wouldn’t want that.
As if the Rebels didn’t have an uphill battle against the Bruins, their starting quarterback Blake Decker went down earlier with a hamstring and left for game. The pressure and the keys to offensive was given to Kurt Palandech who managed 4 pass completions. The fast Bruins players off the edge where too much to handle and left them searching for answers.
Linebackers for UCLA played big creating two big turnovers earlier. Kenny Young with 23 yard pick six to slow down the scrappy Rebels when offense was struggling a little bit bring the score 17-0. Then other backer Deon Hollins was all over the field with key tackles, hurries, and fumble recovery. Then the emotional leader on the defense is Myles Jack and you could hear one of his hits back in Westwood. The team is still getting better each snap and working towards being a factor in Pac-12 South at end of the year.
The Bruins was slowed down in 2nd quarter not having offensive score on their last five drives to close the half. Yes Rosen threw his first interception of his career in 3rd quarter with 10:28 left on clock. He was hit as he threw and little to no velocity on his throw was scooped up by safety. But it’s all part of learning and still an impressive win that allowed the Bruins to play reserves on both sides of ball the whole fourth quarter.
UCLA will return home to Rose Bowl next Saturday to face the hottest or luckiest team in college football right now. The BYU Cougars are 2-0 winning both of their contest on hail marry to steal victories. So the Bruins can’t get caught in a shootout with the Cougars it’s way to dangerous.
