UCLA Football: Bruins trounced by Utah Utes, 48-3

The UCLA football team had the opportunity to shock the world and put itself in a position to win the PAC-12 South and instead were thoroughly routed.

The UCLA football team’s showdown with the Utah Utes for supremacy in the Pac-12 South Division was less a showdown and more a revelation that the Bruins still aren’t at the Utes’ level.

The 48-3 score was reality slapping the Bruins in the face, despite going into the game with a three-game winning streak, the Bruins were never close to being in the same league as the Utes.

You never want to distill a whole game to just a few plays or sequences but over the course of a few sequences the Bruins let the game get away from them and by halftime, their pipe dream of upending the Pac-12 went up in smoke.

The Bruins had three drives in the first half go into Utes territory and all they came away with was three points. They missed a field goal after they forced a fumble and then with the ball on the Utes 12 yard line and a chance to make it a 14-10 game early, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson fumbled and the Utes recovered for game-ending 68-yard touchdown on the fumble return.

That was it and the Bruins were never again in the game as the Utes number one ranked conference defense put the clamps on the Bruins offense and the Utes senior running back Zach Moss collected 200 plus all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.

Big Plays

The Utes are a College Football Playoff contender meaning the Bruins on the road had to play a flawless game to pull off an upset. They did not, and they reverted to their play early in the season giving up the big play.

Along with the 68-yard fumble return, the Bruins allowed the Utes to score on a 38 yard run score, a 69-yard pass play, and an 83-yard touchdown pass play. All the plays were noted for the terrible attempt at tackling and highlighted the talent differences in the teams.

Red Zone Mistakes

The UCLA football team had trouble all night holding on to the ball, and it was most egregious in the red zone. The Bruins had three fumbles in the red zone negating any chance of the team making a comeback in the game.

Despite a better time of possession and getting more first downs than the Utes the Bruins committed five turnovers in the game. Against a team, with the Utes talents, all the mistakes spelled a certain loss for the Bruins.

Moving Forward

There was nothing left for the Bruins after this game than to toss the video and move on to focus on their next game against their crosstown rivals the USC Trojans. The Bruins are a young team they should take the memory of this debacle into next season and see if they can finally beat the Utes.