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UCLA Football: Bruins don’t have any Fight Fight Fight in loss to Arizona

By Mike Regalado

PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins reacts in the game against the UNLV Rebels at the Rose Bowl on September 10, 2016 in Pasadena, California. UCLA won 42-21. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 10: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins reacts in the game against the UNLV Rebels at the Rose Bowl on September 10, 2016 in Pasadena, California. UCLA won 42-21. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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The UCLA Football team got brutalized against Arizona, 47-30, as nothing went right for the Bruins who lose their first game to the Wildcats in the Jim Mora era, who doesn’t look to have a lot of Fight Fight Fight left.

It was all bad. The defense, the offense, the coaching, the player management, the schemes, the timing… nothing worked for the UCLA Football (3-3, 1-2) team as they got destroyed in the desert.

This was insufferable from the very beginning. Allow me to vent a bit. Aside from the fact that the Pac-12 Network can only be seen buy a select few, their live stream could not broadcast the game, leaving even more Pac-12 fans in the dark.

By the time I got to watch the game, Arizona (4-2, 2-1) was up 17-7 at the end of the 1st quarter. Though I missed viewing one-fourth of the game, I was able to catch it on radio and it was not good. On the fourth play of the game, Arizona QB Khalil Tate ran 45 yards for the touchdown. This is the player that ran for a record 327 yards last week. He almost duplicated that effort with 230 yards, averaging 15.3 along the way.

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UCLA’s defense was once again lacking, well, everything. They gave up 605 yards to Arizona. 457 on the ground and 148 through the air. The Bruins were seemingly in the right place, as they constantly tried to load the box, but fundamentals kept the Bruins from locking anyone down, especially on the ground.

There was no tackling, no contain, no spying. Arizona was able to do almost anything they wanted against UCLA’s defense.

And what about the offense? It was the worst of the season.

Blame lies on everyone involved. Josh Rosen had a bad night with 3 interceptions and no touchdowns, though he threw for 219 yards. The receivers also reverted back to their 2016 form as they dropped an characteristic amount of attempted passes.

Offensive Coordinator Jedd Fisch put a lot of effort in keeping the Bruins competitive, but that was erased with some questionable play calls like running a play-action on 3rd and long or taking out Bolu Olorunfunmi after scoring on three consecutive carries in the third quarter to keep UCLA in the game.

There was no tackling, no contain, no spying. Arizona was able to do almost anything they wanted against UCLA’s defense.

Speaking of Olorunfunmi and the running game, the weakness of the offense the last two season, they were the only group that came to play. Collectively, they have had their best game in the last two season as they racked up 190 yards on the ground. Olorunfunmi went over the century mark with 102 yards and added two touchdowns. Soso Jamabo started, but was used sparingly after a first quarter fumble. Still, he managed to run for 33 yards and a TD.

Jalen Starks had 63 yards on ten carries with a touchdown. Though he was pounding the rock early on, his night was over in the second quarter with what looked to be an ankle injury. That is how it went for the Bruins. Great in some places, unwatchable in others.

This was a bad loss. Worse than Stanford. This game showed exactly how far the defense has fallen since a strong showing in 2016. It did not help that the offense didn’t show up either. This was after two weeks to prepare on a bye,

Next: Josh Rosen named to the Manning Award watchlist

This comes down to coaching. Something has to change, though it seems too late to do anything significant to turn the season around. But maybe it is time for the Athletic Department to look for a change in leadership.