The University of Washington defense bent but never broke and that was the difference in the Huskies 31 to 24 win over the UCLA Bruins Saturday evening at the Rosebowl in Pasadena California.
It looked like the Huskies nationally top-ranked defense was on its way to another dominating defensive effort after holding the Bruins offense to just seven points in the first half. UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson connected with Wide Out Theo Howard for a nine-yard TD play in the second quarter for the Bruins lone score. The Husky offense scored two consecutive touchdowns to give the visitors a 24 -7 halftime lead.
The Bruins offense literally found its legs and racked up 68 rushing yards on the Husky defense. The successful ground game opened up the Bruin passing game as the Husky gave up 70 passing yards for a total 138 offensive yards in the third quarter alone.
The offensive domination by the Bruins led to 17 second-half points. A 12 play 42-yard drive that resulted in a field goal in the third quarter, was followed up by two fourth-quarter touchdowns. The first was a 17 play 90-yard drive that ended with another nine-yard Thompson-Robinson touchdown throw. This time the UCLA quarterback hit Caleb Wilson. After a Husky score, the Bruins offense continued to push the Husky defense around going 75 yards on 9 plays and narrowing the gap to just 7 points after a Joshua Kelley two-yard run. The Huskies recovered the onside kick and the offense ran out the clock.
ANALYSIS:
There is plenty of reason why the Husky defense gave up 422 total yards to the Bruins, backups playing due to the heat, looking ahead to the big matchup in Eugene next Saturday, and the Bruin offense being better than it’s 0-5 record. The answer is that it is a little of all three. The Bruins were 8-14 on third down meaning the Huskies are not able to get off the field on a consistency basis. The Bruins had zero yards lost on all of their rushing attempts. The Bruins set set season high for pass completions (27), receiving yards(272), total yards(422) and points (24)
