PASADENA, Calif. — On a first down in his own territory and up 17-0 early in the second quarter, UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley dropped back to pass, poised in a perfect pocket. Bruins wide receiver Damien Thigpen broke free of Michael Lowe’s man coverage and streaked down the field uncovered. Hundley spotted Thigpen and fired a bullet in his direction, but the surefire touchdown pass was under thrown.
Not much else broke right for Cal on Saturday.
On a clear and warm night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., the Bruins handled the Bears, 37-10, in front of 84,272 fans.
The UCLA secondary smothered the Cal receivers and the defensive line manhandled the offensive line, holding the Bears to 4.0 yards per play. Meanwhile, Hundley and Co. capitalized on Cal’s poor tackling technique by repeatedly finding their skill position players in space on their way to racking up 325 yards in the first half. Hundley alone finished the game with 410 passing yards and three touchdowns.
“When we got pressure, Hundley did a good job of eluding it and keeping the plays alive,” said head coach Sonny Dykes. “It’s pretty much what he’s done his entire career. He’s a mobile guy and does a good job extending plays.”
As has been a constant trend for the Bears’ defense, the opening drive began inauspiciously. On the Bruins’ second play from scrimmage, Hundley located Jordan Payton on a post route in the middle of the field for a 43-yard gain to put UCLA in the red zone. But the Cal defense held strong, limiting the Bruins to three points. For the first time this season, the Bears stopped the opposing team from scoring a touchdown on their opening possession.
But any good news for Cal on defense was negated by their dismal offensive play. Goff felt constant pressure from the UCLA front seven in the first half and was unable to progress through his reads. Running back Khalfani Muhammad struggled to find open holes in the offensive line. As a result, the Bears went three-and-out on the first three drives and picked up only one first down in the first quarter.
Following Cal’s third straight three-and-out, the Bruins took over at their own 41-yard line with 6:54 remaining in the first quarter. After a Paul Perkins three-yard carry, the Bruins offense decided to screen pass the Bears to death. Play after play, Hundley found his receivers in the flats in one-on-one match ups. The Bears’ corners had no solution. UCLA marched down the field in less than two minutes; the drive culminated in an 18-yard touchdown pass to Devin Fuller, giving the Bruins the 10-0 edge.
“We haven’t been a particularly good open field tackling team,” Dykes said. “We just didn’t do a good job of making those open field tackles, particularly early in the game.”
UCLA tacked on another seven points at the start of the the second quarter on a one-yard touchdown run from Perkins. The Bears’ offense continued to struggle, going three-and-out once more on the ensuing drive. At this point in the game, punter Cole Leininger was Cal’s best weapon. A 49-yard punt from Leininger pinned the Bruins at their own 9-yard line, allowing the Bears to capitalize on a short field on the next possession and set up a Vincent D’Amato field goal, making the score 17-3. The defense made a stand on the next UCLA drive and the offense took over with 7:35 remaining in the second quarter.
A 12-play, 81-yard touchdown drive brought the Bears within seven and back from the brink of death. But Hundley and Co. did their best to ensure Cal remained in their grave, responding with a long touchdown drive of their own to increase their lead to 24-10 heading into the halftime break.
The game stayed within two scores until a Goff interception in Cal territory set up an easy 22-yard field goal for Bruins kicker Ka’imi Fairburn. Down 27-10 late in the third quarter, the Bears’ odds at pulling off an upset were slim.
“You know, it’s probably mainly on me if the offense doesn’t play well,” Goff said. “It’s probably my fault. We’ve got to play a lot better.”
Those odds shrank to virtually zero with a Fairburn field goal on the next drive, extending the lead to 30-10 heading into the fourth quarter.
Cal’s final nail in the coffin came with 9:07 left in the fourth quarter when Goff fumbled the ball away on fourth-and-goal, turning the ball and the game over to the Bruins.
“We just struggled to execute basic plays tonight, for whatever reason,” Dykes said. “We haven’t put a solid game together this year, where both sides of the ball play well. We’re learning.”
Michael Rosen covers football. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @michaelrosen3.