The Bruin faithful arrived at the Rose Bowl in anticipation for a showdown against one of the most electrifying players in all of college football, Jalen Hurts. Upset hopes didn’t go as planned as (0-3) UCLA were defeated 48-14 by the #5 ranked (3-0) Oklahoma Sooners who got off to a strong start and never looked back.
Transfer quarterback from Alabama, Jalen Hurts, started the game off strong for the Sooners with an elusive 52-yard run for the first play of the game. Hurts used his legs all drive as he rushed for a 16-yard gain, and a 30-yard touchdown run on 4th down for the first touchdown of the game.
UCLA, led by Sophomore quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson looked a step slow against the #5 ranked team. The Bruins first two drives of the game resulted in disappointing punts due to the Sooners suffocating defense.
While the Bruins offense stalled, the Sooners put up two scoring drives. UCLA’s defense forced the high-octane Sooners to a field goal making the score 10-0. With another turnover on downs for the Bruins, the Sooners made the most of it on a three play 69-yard drive for the quick score increasing the lead to 17-0 with 3:31 left in the first quarter.
Oklahoma proved to be too much to handle as the first quarter shutout came to a close. The Sooner offense compiled a total of 258 yards with Jalen Hurts rushing for 103 yards topping UCLA’s 89 yards in the first quarter.
As the second quarter began, the Bruins offense came to life. UCLA put together a nine-play 75-yard drive for their first score of the game with Dorian Thompson-Robinson throwing a 13-yard strike to Freshman Kyle Phillips for the touchdown giving the quieted UCLA faithful their first exciting moment since kickoff.
The touchdown wasn’t enough as the Bruins simply couldn’t stop Jalen Hurts. The Heisman candidate completed 15 passes for 289 yards and three touchdowns while rushing 14 times for 150 yards and a touchdown totaling 439 yards of total offense alone, while the Bruins collected 311 total yards.
Hurts had help from the Sooner defense. Junior cornerback Tre Brown made an athletic leaping interception along the Bruin sideline in the second quarter and Sophomore linebacker Ryan Jones collected a late interception that officially sealed the deal for the Sooners.
Head Coach Chip Kelly has now coached the Bruins to a lackluster 14 points in three consecutive games. “I think that it’s a consistency thing. You know, I think that there are times where we’ve put together some pretty good drives, where we’ve gone up and down the field. But we are just too inconsistent as a group to sustain, and that is what we’ve got to work on,” said Kelly.
“Obviously, we are a young football team. We knew that going into the season, what we’re playing with. I thought we fought and battled in the second half here against a really good team,” said Kelly who knows his young team has a lot of room for growth.
Junior wide receiver Demetric Felton caught four passes for 44 yards and an additional 65 rushing yards. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 201 yards through the air on 15 of 26 completions with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The two players led the way on a Bruins offense that will look to improve from their encounter against the #5 ranked team in the country.
The Bruins will play their first opponent in the PAC-12, Washington St. Saturday, September 21 at 7:30 pm, as they look to collect their first win of the season.
