UCLA commits three turnovers in its first six drives and manages just 10 first downs in a 48-14 loss. Quarterback Nico Iamaleava exits in the third quarter after a hit to the head.
Cotton-candy skies of pink and orange bathe the San Gabriel Mountains, the hang-it-in-the-Louvre backdrop that forever sinks into football fans’ brains across the United States.
That’s the Rose Bowl. That’s what America’s Stadium sings. That’s what college football programs dream of seeing with their own eyes. You’ll see it on postcards; you’ll see it on laptop screensavers.
But the annals of Rose Bowl history will certainly try to forget the display of UCLA against Washington — an attempt to scrub a whimper of a late gloomy kickoff that saw the Bruins (3-8, 3-5 Big Ten) fall 48-14 in their potentially permanent Pasadena finale.
Yes, UCLA may have played its last home football game on Saturday night as rumors swirl over the Bruins’ future home stadium, hooked into a legal battle with the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Co. But maybe most of America turned a blind eye to the result — and SoFi Stadium executives, too — and pressed delete on UCLA’s effort, adjoined with scattered booes as the Bruins failed to score in a half for the first time this season.
UCLA tallied three turnovers — all fumbles — and punted thrice across its first six drives. Its first drive? A turnover on downs.
The Bruins converted a woeful two-of-13 on third down and accrued just 10 first downs on Saturday. Washington (8-3, 5-3) outgained UCLA 426-208 thanks to a four-touchdown performance from Huskies standout sophomore quarterback Desmond Williams Jr.
Two hundred and eight yards of total offense was the Bruins’ second-worst mark, only to their 50-point defeat to No.
