UCLA’s defense remains dominant but it’s ‘hungry’ for more
The UCLA football team’s defensive front produced another dominant effort to help beat Colorado 28-16 and extend the team’s home winning streak to four games at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.
Outside linebacker Carl Jones Jr. had seven tackles and one of UCLA’s seven sacks in front of the 71,343 in attendance.
Jones was credited with the sack for a 12-yard loss after Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was called for intentional grounding on the first complete drive of the fourth quarter. The Buffaloes were forced to punt the ball away as a result of the sack.
UCLA quarterback Collin Schlee would cap off an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. It was his third rushing touchdown this season.
The offense did struggle early in the game, allowing four turnovers in the first half. The defense managed to keep the Bruins (6-2 overall, 3-2 Pac-12) afloat, sacking Sanders four times and helping keep the Buffaloes’ offense scoreless in the second quarter.
The four turnovers were the most since the Bruins had five turnovers in last year’s Sun Bowl loss against Pittsburgh.
“It was just like the holidays,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said about the first half. “I had to remind our kids that this was Halloween, not Christmas, and ‘we need to stop giving away gifts, and let’s just make sure it’s Halloween, so put your scary masks on and let’s go play.’”
The defense held Colorado to three field goals for nine total points through the first three quarters of play.
“We were talking about it for sure,” Jones said. “When we were out at Stanford we were trying to hold them to a donut. Today, if it was just field goals it was field goals, but yeah, we were trying to make sure that they don’t score. Unfortunately, they did, but given that, the defense still went back on the field and got the next one.”
Sanders managed to complete an 18-yard touchdown pass to receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter while the game was already out of reach.
UCLA has allowed just 10 touchdowns, including one rushing, all season.
Jones and other members of the defense remain “hungry” to achieve their goals.
“I feel like at this point in the season we’re only getting better,” Defensive lineman Gary Smith III said. “I mean we’ve gotten some games together, coach knows us more, our defensive coordinator (D’Anton Lynn) knows more, and puts us in great positions to make plays. So I felt like we’re on the trajectory to just keep getting better.”
NFL draft prospect Laiatu Latu continues his bid for an All-American season with two of his three tackles in the game resulting in sacks. Latu increased his season total to 8.5. He’s tied for fifth in the nation. UTSA linebacker Trey Moore leads the country with 12.
Latu needs 6.5 to reach the 15-sack mark he set for himself at the beginning of the season.
Gabriel and Grayson Murphy each finished with 1.5 sacks. Smith had one.
IN THE POLLS
The Bruins moved up in the polls following their victory over Colorado. UCLA was ranked No. 20 after jumping up three spots in the AP Top 25 and four spots in the coaches’ poll.
UP NEXT
UCLA will travel to Arizona for a 7:30 p.m. Saturday game in Tucson. The game will air on FS1. Arizona will be playing with confidence after knocking off Oregon State.
The Wildcats are led by former UCLA offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch. Fisch was hired by UCLA in 2017 and finished out the season as interim head coach after Jim Mora was fired.
Kelly was hired to take over the program for the 2018 season.
The roster featured several Southern California players including Servite graduates from the 2022 class: quarterback Noah Fifita, receiver Tetairoa McMillan, tight end Keyan Burnett and linebacker Jacob Manu.
Arizona also has four transfers from UCLA: Safety DJ Warnell Jr., defensive back Martell Irby, and defensive linemen Tyler Manoa and Tiaoalii Savea.