UCLA Football: The good, the bad and the Bruins vs. Fresno State
The UCLA football team is 0-3 after the Bruins had a less than stellar effort against Fresno State. Here are the good, bad and top Bruins from that game.
The UCLA football team lost in embarrassing fashion to Fresno State, 38-14. It was a bad loss which put UCLA at 0-3 to start the season, the first time that has happened since 1971.
RELATED: Bruins Go 0-3 After Uncomfortable Loss to Fresno State
So what did happen? Was there any silver linings to this game? We look at what good, bad and Bruins happened in this game UCLA fans are looking to quickly forget.
The Good
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Special teams showed up for this game when the rest of the team did not. Not only did punter Stefan Flintoft average 48.5 yards per punt, but he also booted one 70 yards to really pin back Fresno State. Flipping the field was a little bit better than it was against Cincinnati, so there is that.
In addition to that, long snapper Johnny Den Bleyker recovered a muffed punt in the third quarter which led to UCLA’s second score of the game as he recovered the ball on the Fresno State 17. Good eye, JDB!
The Bad
Anything other than special teams. It is unfortunate that this team was not able to move the ball on offense, but it was a lot more disconcerting that the defense was not able to stop the Bulldogs. The Bruins defense, which has been pretty solid in pass defense and looked like it was improving with the run defense, could not stop FSU QB Marcus McMaryion from dissecting the Bruins. On top of that, they allowed McMaryion to run for four touchdowns. Each run was from within two-yards of the end zone.
The Top Bruins
On offense, El Bruin Grande is Dorian Thompson-Robinson. He may not have had the best game, but like Oklahoma, he did not quit on the team, especially after two interceptions. The freshman QB not only threw for 151 yards and one touchdown, but he also put up 49 yards rushing, the most among all UCLA runners.
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On defense, Adarius Pickett gets the title of “Top Bruin” with his team-high 15 tackles. Despite the Bruins inability to completely stop Fresno State, Pickett came up big with several tackles to halt or slow the Bulldog’s progression.