UCLA Football had freshman quarterback Josh Rosen lead them to a 34-16 victory over Virginia. Yes, that just happened.
Did you see it? Josh Rosen did what we all thought he would do… And more. In his debut with UCLA Football, the freshman out of Bellflower, California had completed 28 out of 35 passes, threw for 351 yards, connected for 3 touchdowns and generally scared the living daylights out of the rest of the Pac-12.
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Now you can see why Rosen was chosen.
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UCLA Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone took a chance on Rosen’s first play of the game which would have been a 60-yard connection had Kenneth Walker caught the pass. Though the Bruins did not do anything in the next few plays, going three and out, it was a ballsy call by UCLA, if only to get the jitters out of Rosen.
After that, it was open season on the Virginia defense. The thing about Rosen is that his passes looked so good and were very accurate, often connecting with receivers with tight coverage on them or throwing in between two or three defenders. It was amazing.
Seeing how comfortable Rosen looked, it is safe to say that Rosen might have this type of game from now on, not to over hype it.
The bottom line is, the Bruins are in good hands with Rosen.
Don’t Quit On The Run
Early in the game UCLA football was not able to establish proper running game. The Virginia front seven did a decent job to stifle UCLA, stopping running back Paul Perkins who had more receiving yards than rushing yards at halftime. Perkins ended the game with 59 yards on the ground and 59 yards through the air to lead all receivers.
Paul Perkins has more receiving yards than rushing yards.
— Go Joe Bruin (@GoJoeBruinUCLA) September 5, 2015
Rush: 30
Rcv: 58
Though it was in the Bruins best interest to continue to run and not put so much pressure on Rosen, it eventually paid off especially in the second half when the Bruins got help from a few young guys.
Freshmen Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olorunfunmi had been extremely productive supporting the run game, especially in the second half. UCLA football seemed to grind down Virginia after the half and part of that came from the Bruin freshman.
Jamabo lead all rushers with 79 yards while Olorunfunmi had 30.
Though it took a few drives for the Bruins to get clicking, as we eventually saw, it looks like they will be okay this season. Quite possibly better than anyone expected.
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