UCLA Falls to Oregon as Offense Sputters

Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports

The 12th-ranked UCLA Bruins fell to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday night, 42-14 in what was a tighter game than the score indicated.

UCLA’s defense held Oregon to 14 points in the first half and 21 points through three quarters, but the unit became fatigued after the Bruin offense sputtered drive after drive. Of the final five UCLA offensive series, four lasted less than two minutes, adding to the mounting pressure on the defense to stop Oregon’s offense, consistently one of the best in the country.

When the fourth quarter began, so did the blowout.

Bruin fans will pin this loss on UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone, aptly noting that his playbook consisted of significant repetition. Asking the offense to produce with just a handful of plays at their disposal proved to be the reason the Bruins lost in the first place.

While the UCLA linebackers did their job in containing the speedy playmakers that the Ducks field, and while the secondary did its job in ensuring Heisman frontrunner Marcus Mariota didn’t take any significant deep shots, the offense failed to put up any points in the second half to relieve the defense.

Instead, UCLA finished off with six scoreless drives, with all but one (the end of the game) ending in punts.

This is a rather disappointing loss for the UCLA faithful, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Bruins remedy their offensive woes.