Pasadena, CA – UCLA opened their season as an under the radar team despite having the number one transfer as their starting quarterback with a lopsided loss, 43-10, as majority expected Utah not to be upset on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
“A lot of stuff to learn from. Not the outcome that we wanted in the first game, but we just have to learn from this,” Coach DeShaun Foster said. “It’s not going to be easy, but one positive thing I can take away from this is the way they’re sounding in the locker room right now.”
UCLA won the coin toss and deferred to a Devon Dampier’s open drive performance as Utes quarterback made a far-seeing statement of him to be a nightmare for UCLA’s defense throughout the game. His playmaking abilities resulted in 3 out of 4 passes and scoring on their first drive in less than 5 minutes of the game for 75 yards, 11 plays, 7-0 advantage Utah.
Utah’s O line displayed a heroic performance to help their quarterback and team convert 14 out of 16 third downs. Utes had several players whom played on both sides of the ball where the defense seem to setup the offense with ideal field position while holding Bruins to only 50 offense plays. Dampier passed for 206 yards and two touchdowns plus a third touchdown on the ground.
“I’m not going to take anything away from him, he’s a great quarterback. Coming into the game, we knew he was something that we would have to focus on,” Utah’s cornerback Isaiah Chisom said. “Good players make plays. I think this game gives us a chance to see what we need to work on. Going into film tomorrow, and then practice, we know exactly what we need to work on.”
Utah finished with four sacks and snapped a four-game winning streak for UCLA season openers. Bruins appeared to find rhythm in their offense coming out of halftime and settled for a 46-yard field goal by K Mateen Bhaghani, his sole attempt, improving to 29-for-34 (85%) on field goals for his career, including 21-25 as a Bruin (84%).
Giving Bruins fans within the 35 thousand crowd hope and a reason to cheer for the home team as the score got within reach, Utah quickly responded with a nine minute 44 second drive led by Dampier finishing with a two-yard rush TD, 30-10.
“The fan base came out and showed their support. Obviously, we have to do our part and get them a win,” Nico lamaleava said.
“That’s all on us and we’re going to continue to get better throughout the year.”
Utes put up 463 yards of total offense, while Bruins finished with 305. UCLA’s committed just three penalties in the contest, for 30 yards.
“I think the score got us to be one-dimensional at one point, so that was tough. I was proud of the way they came and kept fighting,” coach Foster said. “There might have been a couple of long faces on the sideline, but for the most part most of those guys were still out there fighting and understood that what you’re putting on film now is actually who you are as a football player.”
Year two of the DeShaun Foster era at UCLA looked promising though an ugly loss with little glimpses of standout play, given Utah’s level of competition offers a team like the Bruins opportunities to grow early in the season with plenty of new faces on the field. Besides quarterback Iamaleava, who transferred into the program this offseason from Tennessee returning close to his hometown of Long Beach, Anthony Woods and Isiah Chisom made an impressive debut on offense and defense, respectively. Woods caught one touchdown and finished 3 of 3 for 48 yards.
“We just played a good team. That was it. We played a good team that came out and played their style of play,” coach Foster said. “I won’t take anything away from them. They were able to execute and do what they wanted to do out there on the field. We’ve just got to come back in, regroup and really just grade yourself and be hard on yourself. This isn’t going to be easy.”
UCLA travels to Nevada to face UNLV and Utah (1-0) hosts Cal Poly next Saturday.