UCLA Vs Washington: The Bruins Have a Complete Game On The Road, Limit Penalties

Despite the Washington Huskies (6-4, 2-4) having issues with suspensions and injuries, the #18 UCLA Bruins (8-2, 5-2) had a complete game that was very similar to their win on the road at Division-leading Arizona State. Not only did they get their 9th road win in a row that dates back to November 9, 2013 in a win at Arizona, but they complete this season’s road schedule unblemished going 6-0. Part of that was due to having a complete game that was not hindered by penalties, which UCLA had not committed until the second half against UW and because of that we were able to see both Bruin offense and defense play the way they are intended to.

Betsided

On The Road

UCLA, so far, is the only Pac-12 team to have complete a road schedule unscathed. Currently division leaders Oregon and Arizona State have not lost on the road either, but are yet to complete their schedule away from home. The Ducks still play at Oregon State to end their regular season while ASU still has games against the Beavers and in-state Rival Arizona to travel to.

UCLA is done. They are 6-0 on the road and with some very tough games under their belt. The Bruins started the season with some trouble from the Cavaliers at Virginia, then had an emotional win against Texas in Jerry World, destroyed the Sun Devils 62-27 in Tempe, struggled at Cal and Colorado and ended their road schedule by blasting the Huskies. Some of these games were against lesser opponents which the Bruins should have annihilated, but the bottom line is that UCLA got the “W” in each of these. It may not have felt great at the time, but to look back and see the Bruins digging deep for victories away from home is remarkable, especially knowing their current road win streak is at 9, going back to last season.

Minimizing Penalties

UCLA had an unprecedented 11 penalties called on them last week in their win over Arizona, nine of which were called in the first half. In their win up in Seattle, the Bruins had zero at halftime and only three legitimate penalties in the game. UCLA had four called on them, but there was a horrible offensive pass interference called on Devin Lucien as he was caught a pass in the end zone.

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Lucien was sprinting to the goal line when he had great body control and stopped just past it, leaving the UW defender missing badly on the coverage and fall backwards. For whatever reason, the Pac-12 refs assumed Lucien had pushed off but replay showed Lucien did not touch him… at all. It was a down point that is tacked onto their culture of penalties, but overall, the Bruins did one hell of a job limiting those mistakes. The result was both Bruin offense and defense able to play the game their talents allow them to with out shooting themselves int he foot.

Having A Complete Games Helps

That goes without saying, but it is a point that needs to be driven into the skulls of everyone associated with UCLA football. For whatever reason, whether it is bad play calling, excessive penalties, turnovers or bad clock management, the Bruins were not haunted by their mistakes against Washington. There were a few minor hiccups throughout the game, but nothing than completely stunned the Bruins. Because of that, UCLA was able to execute their game plan on both sides of the ball.

The offense pulled in 476 yards behind Brett Hundley‘s 302 through the air. The defense was able to slow down Washington, despite giving up 211 yards on the ground (UW averages 188.0 per game). A lot of that had to do with the offense doing so well and scoring fast that the defense did not have that much time to rest. Still, the Bruins stopped the Huskies where it counted, on the scoreboard. Because of that, UCLA was able to produce a rout that some many fans knew they could achieve.

Nov 8, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; UCLA Bruins quarterback Brett Hundley (17) celebrates his touchdown pass to wide receiver Mossi Johnson (14) during the fourth quarter at Husky Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

But it is far from over. Now it is time to return home for two of the biggest games on the Bruins schedule. On Saturday, Novemebr 22, the Bruins host crosstown rival USC and six days later, play Stanford in a 12:30 PT game the day after Thanksgiving. Right now, UCLA needs to win both of these games and have ASU lose one more to take the South Division. Let us hope the rest of the schedule is favorable to UCLA.