UCLA football comes up short at Northwestern and falls to 0-4

At the very least, it was a pulse.

After three embarrassing performances put the UCLA football team at 0-3 and cost head coach DeShaun Foster his job, the Bruins kicked off Big Ten play with a viable chance to get into the win column.

Only that opportunity fell flaccidly deep in UCLA territory, the Bruins unable to muster enough offense to potentially tie the game in a 17-14 loss Saturday at Northwestern in Evanston, Illinois.

The Bruins got the ball on their own 7-yard line with 3:23 to play after stopping Northwestern and forcing a punt. On 3rd and 8, a deep pass down the left sideline to Rico Flores Jr. fell incomplete, with the referees missing a tug on Flores’ jersey, which made the Bruins punt the ball away with 1:55 to go.

Northwestern took over on its own 49-yard line but could do nothing. Gary Smith III and Jalen Woods teamed up to sack Wildcats quarterback Preston Stone and UCLA used its third and final timeout before the Wildcats punted.

UCLA got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 1:29 to play, but a sack and a false-start penalty all but doomed the Bruins to an 0-4 start to the season in its first loss under interim coach Tim Skipper.

While the Bruins did hold Northwestern scoreless in the second half, they were gashed for 199 yards on the ground. Sophomore Caleb Komolafe led the Wildcats (2-2, 1-1 Big Ten) with 119 yards on 27 carries.

UCLA tallied 131 rushing yards of their own – 65 of them courtesy of quarterback Nico Iamaleava. The Tennessee transfer finished 19-of-27 passing for 180 yards and a touchdown.

UCLA had closed within three points with 6:22 left when Iamaleava found Kwazi Gilmer in the back of the end zone for a 29-yard strike and then hit Anthony Woods for the two-point conversion. The drive found life thanks to runs of 12 and 13 yards by running back Jaivian Thomas, who finished with 43 yards on seven carries.

The Bruins showed some pluck early in the fourth quarter when Northwestern drove deep into UCLA territory and had a 1st and goal from the 3-yard line. The Bruins surrendered just a yard in three plays and Wildcats kicker Jack Olsen missed a 20-yard field goal with 7:50 remaining.

Senior linebacker JonJon Vaughns led the Bruins with 12 tackles, five of which were solo.

Already up 17-3 at halftime, Northwestern took advantage of a roughing the passer penalty against Bruins defensive lineman Kechaun Bennett to extend its opening drive of the third quarter. Bennett was ejected for the game for targeting, but UCLA held strong and forced Northwestern to punt from the Bruins’ 37-yard line – its first drive without producing points.

UCLA then pieced together a 12-play, 73-yard drive that stalled at the Northwestern 7-yard line, ending with a 25-yard field goal by Mateen Bhaghani at 2:51 of the third quarter.

Bhaghani’s 28-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter accounted for all of the Bruins’ first-half points. In their four possessions, the Bruins totaled 154 yards – 87 passing and 67 rushing – but punted twice and turned the ball over on downs midway through the second quarter when Iamaleava, trailing 10-0, was sacked on 4th and 3 from the Wildcats’ 34-yard line.

Not helping was UCLA – with new senior defensive analyst Kevin Coyle calling the plays – giving up 17 points and 212 yards in the first half.

Northwestern opened the scoring with a 33-yard field goal by Jack Olsen at 2:24 of the first quarter.

Komofale got a fortuitous bounce on his own fumble, collecting it and running nine yards into the end zone to put the Wildcats up 10-0 early in the second quarter as they needed just six plays to cover 69 yards.

Northwestern added to its lead, capping a five-play, 64-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Stone to Griffin Wilde with 3:32 before halftime.

For context, the 17 points the Wildcats put up in two quarters of play against UCLA matched its total in losses to Oregon and Tulsa.