Bruins Begin Jim Mora Era With A Big 49-24 Win

When Brett Hundley, in his first collegiate start at quarterback, ran for a 72-yard touchdown on his first college snap, then followed that up by leading the team to two more touchdowns in their next two possessions, including a 74-yard touchdown run by Johnathan Franklin, I knew that things would be blissfully different for UCLA’s Bruins.

At least in their first game at least, as the Jim Mora era officially began with his team using two fourth quarter scores while shutting down the Rice Owls in the second half on the way to a solid 49-24 victory in front of a small crowd of 23,105 at a steamy Rice Stadium in Houston, TX.

It became quickly evident from the get-go that offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone’s no-huddle spread offensive was a huge upgrade from last year’s “Pistol” as UCLA racked up a total of 651 yards, including 348 on the ground with Franklin leading the pack with 214 yards on just 15 carries with three TD’s, which was just two fewer than he had all last season.

As another illustration of how things are changing, Franklin outdid himself in the second quarter when he burned the Owl defense for a 78-yard score.

The 49 points was the most the Bruins scored since 2005, which should settle the argument of what offense UCLA should run once and for all.

As for Hundley, it looks like UCLA may have finally found a quarterback that can make a difference, as you couldn’t get a much better debut than the redshirt freshman’s 202 yards on 21 of 28 passing, with two touchdowns in the air to go along with his spectacular run on the game’s first play.

And much kudos goes to the Bruin defense for stepping up when they needed to as after Rice made the score close with two touchdowns, Damien Holmes returned a fumble 44 yards to take the momentum back and make the score 35-24 at the half. UCLA would go on to completely shut Rice down in the second 30 minutes, using six sacks to help the cause.

Some other impressions from the Bruins’ opening night:

1.  The team looked like they had a new attitude and intensive energy; that was the vibe that I got as I was watching them on TV.

2.  There were some problems that dearly need to be fixed, namely the eight penalties for 107 yards that the Bruins accumulated, including a needless and stupid personal foul by Devin Lucien, who was ejected, that nullified a TD pass by Richard Brehaut in the fourth quarter.

Steven Manfro’s fumbled punt, which directly led to an Owl touchdown, wasn’t good either, nor was a personal foul that led to Rice’s first score.

3.  Ka’imi Fairburn needs to improve his kicking as the true freshman had three extra points blocked, interestingly by the same guy, Rice’s Cameron Nwosu, who set an NCAA record. He did manage to make a 27-yard field goal in the second quarter, but if his execution doesn’t improve, punter Jeff Locke may be forced to do double duty.

I’ll give Fairburn a pass for the first game, however, as it was his first on the collegiate level.

4.  Though this is an impressive win, one should keep in mind that – with all due respect to Rice – that it came against a team that they were clearly favored over.

If UCLA is to have any chance of beating Nebraska in their home opener on September 8, they need to clean up the penalties, get better in the kicking game, and take their preparation and approach up a couple of notches because the Cornhuskers are not Rice and will put up a much tougher fight – that I guarantee.

Having said that, Bruin Nation should enjoy this win and look forward to supporting the team at the Rose Bowl on the 8th.

NEXT OPPONENT: Nebraska Cornhuskers, Rose Bowl, Saturday, September 8th, 4:30 p.m. 

A preview of the Nebraska game will appear on L.A. Sports Hub early next week.