UCLA
3-5 , 1-4
Utah
7-1 , 4-1
Utes Take Shootout Over UCLA, 52-45
October 22, 2016 | Football
Pasadena, Calif. - Utah and UCLA combined for 97 points in a Pac-12 shootout on Saturday, with the Utes coming away with a 52-45 victory before 66,243 fans at the Rose Bowl. Bruin quarterback Mike Fafaul notched single-game school records for passing attempts (70) and completions (40) in the loss, as the Bruins see their record fall to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-12. Utah improves to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in conference action ahead of its pivotal Pac-12 matchup with No. 5 Washington next week.
Both teams accounted for nearly 50 points in the first half alone, with the Utes taking a 27-21 lead into the locker room. After Utah's Cory Butler-Byrd took the opening kickoff back for a 99-yard touchdown return, the Utes tacked on seven more points followingย a three-yard rush by Joe Williams to take an early 14-0 lead.
"It's tough to win a game when you start with a kickoff return for a touchdown, you give up 360 yards rushing and only get 46, you have five turnovers, you kick the ball out of bounds right when you're trying to get field position," said UCLA head coach Jim Mora. "Those are some really discouraging things. But I'll give you a positive; I thought our young men, getting 14-0, coming off two losses, fought. There's no quit in them. We're not doing well enough, but it's not for lack of effort on the part of our players."
The Bruins would eventually find their rhythm, scoring 21 unanswered points in the first quarter. Fafaul, making his second start in place on an injured Josh Rosen, put the Bruins on the board with an 11-yard pass to Bolu Olorunfunmi. He followed that up with another TD pass, this time to Nate Iese, from 13-yards to tie the game at 14-14.
Defensive end Takkarist McKinley played a big part in the Bruins' third touchdown of the first quarter when he sacked Utah quarterback Troy Williams deep in Ute territory. At first glance it appeared that McKinley had simply registered a routine sack, however a video replay showed that he had also stripped the ball from Williams as the two players fell to the ground. That play gave UCLA the ball on the Utah 14 and three plays later Olorunfunmi scored on a seven-yard rush to give the Bruins a 21-14 lead.
On the Bruins' first possession after the half, Fafaul would connect with Iese again, this time on a 50-yard scoring play that put the Bruins ahead 28-27. The Utes would answer on their next possession as well, as their nine-play drive culminated with a three-yard rush from Troy Williams to make it 33-28. Utah then went for two and got it to take a seven-point lead.
It would take UCLA just two plays to tie things up, as Fafaul completed his longest pass of the day, a 75-yard touchdown strike to Jordan Lasley, to make it 35-35. Unfortunately for the Bruins, that was as close as they would get, as Ute running back Joe Williams proved unstoppable down the stretch. Williams scored on a 64-yard run with less than a minute to play in the third quarter, and would tack on a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to help the Utes pull away.
With Utah leading 52-38, the Bruins made things interesting when Fafaul connected with wideout Austin Roberts for a 13-yard touchdown with 4:38 left on the clock to bring UCLA within a touchdown at 52-45. The Bruins were unable to score again, however,ย as Utah made it out of Pasadena with the narrow seven-point victory.
"I think Mike is gritty as heck," added Mora.ย "He threw the ball 70 times today. He threw [five] touchdowns. He's unaffected by his mistakes. He's affected by them, but he keeps going out there and slinging it. His teammates have tremendous, tremendous, tremendous respect for him, and they want to play hard for him. He's a warrior. He's a stud of a kid. I have great respect for him."
Fafaul's final numbers on the day were 40-for-70 passing for 464 yards and five touchdowns.ย Minus the six rushing attempts from Fafaul, UCLA rushed the ball just 10 times on the afternoon.
McKinley led the Bruins on defense, tallying three sacks and five tackles for loss.
Team Stats
UTAH 7, UCLA 0
UTAH - Butler-Byrd, C. 99 yd kickoff return (Phillips, Andy kick)
UTAH 14, UCLA 0
UTAH - Williams, Joe 3 yd run (Phillips, Andy kick), 4 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:47
UTAH 14, UCLA 7
UCLA - Olorunfunmi 11 yd pass from Fafaul (Strauch kick) 10 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:45
UTAH 14, UCLA 14
UCLA - Iese 13 yd pass from Fafaul (Strauch kick) 7 plays, 76 yards, TOP 1:31
UTAH 14, UCLA 21
UCLA - Olorunfunmi 7 yd run (Strauch kick), 3 plays, 14 yards, TOP 0:41
UTAH 17, UCLA 21
UTAH - Phillips, Andy 45 yd field goal 6 plays, 22 yards, TOP 2:35
UTAH 24, UCLA 21
UTAH - Williams, Joe 43 yd run (Phillips, Andy kick), 3 plays, 52 yards, TOP 1:21
UTAH 27, UCLA 21
UTAH - Phillips, Andy 45 yd field goal 4 plays, 1 yards, TOP 0:52
UTAH 27, UCLA 28
UCLA - Iese 50 yd pass from Fafaul (Strauch kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:30
UTAH 35, UCLA 28
UTAH - Williams, Troy 2 yd run (Simpkins,Demari pass), 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:05
UTAH 35, UCLA 35
UCLA - Lasley 75 yd pass from Fafaul (Strauch kick) 2 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:17
UTAH 38, UCLA 35
UTAH - Phillips, Andy 46 yd field goal 6 plays, 20 yards, TOP 2:35
UTAH 45, UCLA 35
UTAH - Williams, Joe 64 yd run (Phillips, Andy kick), 1 plays, 64 yards, TOP 0:11
UTAH 45, UCLA 38
UCLA - Strauch 39 yd field goal 8 plays, 43 yards, TOP 1:59
UTAH 52, UCLA 38
UTAH - Williams, Joe 55 yd run (Phillips, Andy kick), 1 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:11
UTAH 52, UCLA 45
UCLA - Roberts 13 yd pass from Fafaul (Strauch kick) 3 plays, 35 yards, TOP 0:27
