The first half of the UCLA Football Bruins vs. the Washington Huskies match up has come to an end. Here are Go Joe Bruin’s thoughts on the first half of action.
The UCLA Football team knew that this trip up to Seattle wouldn’t end with a win without a major battle and so far that’s what the game has been. To start off the game the Bruins gave up a long run to Washington RB Myles Gaskin but stiffened up to eventually lead to a punt on Washington’s opening drive.
That’s the kind of production the Bruins need from their defense if they want to stay in the game. One interesting note is that Marcus Moore got the start over Jaelan Phillips. Moore provides a little more of a speed rush and the Bruins know the Huskies are without their starting left tackle for the rest of the season in Trey Adams
On the first offensive UCLA Football drive, the Bruins were aided by a roughing the passer penalty by Greg Gaines when he came in low and late on Rosen. That penalty would turn into points for the Bruins with J.J. Molson nailing a 42 yard field goal to give the Bruins the lead.
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That lead was short lived with Washington tying the game up with a field goal of their own on the very next drive. That drive was aided by a bone head late hit by Kenny Young on Jake Browning as he ran out of bounds. Those kinds of penalties have killed the Bruins all season long.
Both teams traded touchdowns with the Bruins finding tight end Jordan Wilson in the endzone. Jedd Fisch showed off a number of great play designs on that scoring drive using misdirection and formations to create space for the offense.
However the Bruins missed the extra point and instead of a 10-10 game the Bruins trailed 10-9.
Then everything started going downhill. The UCLA Football defense that had played well to start began to give up big plays on the ground but perhaps biggest punch to the gut was allowing a 82 yard kick off return following the Bruins’ touchdown. That return set up a score two plays later.
The Bruin offense also began to stumble and even Josh Rosen started to look human. The offensive line that had played well in the run game began to allow quicker penetration and UCLA couldn’t stay ahead of the chains.
Washington was able to tack on a late FG to go up 20-9 with that missed extra point looming large. UCLA was able to get the ball back before the half but two straight drops and then a throw short of the sticks made that offensive possession a moot point.
The punting game has been the shining point of this game so far. Dante Pettis is college football’s most dangerous return man but UCLA punter Stefan Flintoft has kept him in check so far.
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With the second half coming up the Bruins will be able to put together a solid gameplan and execute it or will the Huskies continue to pound this UCLA Football team and Rosen into submission. We will get a chance to see what this offense can do on their opening drive since the Bruins will receive.