PASADENA, Calif. – UCLA registered its largest comeback in program history, erasing a 44-10 deficit against Texas A&M to win, 45-44, in the season opener at the Rose Bowl on Sunday night.
The Bruins (1-0) scored touchdowns on each of their last five offensive drives after the visiting Aggies (0-1) claimed a 44-10 cushion with a 48-yard field goal at the 4:08 mark of the third quarter. UCLA scored the winning touchdown with 43 seconds to play after quarterback Josh Rosen faked a spike and then tossed to Jordan Lasley for a 10-yard score.
Go Behind-the-Scenes Following UCLA's Comeback Victory
Rosen registered career highs with 491 yards and four passing touchdowns. The Bruins' signal-caller also had a career-best 35 passes on 59 attempts, tearing off 292 passing yards in the final quarter. Tight end Caleb Wilson set a new school record with 15 receptions in the game for 205 yards, the third-most receiving yards in school history.
UCLA outscored Texas A&M by a 28-0 margin in the final quarter, totaling 306 yards while limiting the Aggies to just 58 net yards in the fourth period.
"We knew that this would not be an easy game," UCLA head coach Jim Mora said. "We didn't know we'd be down by 28 points at halftime. I was so impressed with how they managed their emotions at halftime and how they came back in the second half. They had confidence in each other. They had a ton of poise. I saw a coaching staff that made great adjustments. I saw players who embraced those adjustments. They owned that. When you do that, you're capable of doing stuff that you did tonight."
Sunday night's win also featured the largest fourth-quarter comeback in school history. Previously, the Bruins had overcome a 21-point deficit at Stanford (24-3) to win, 30-27, in overtime on Oct. 29, 2005.
Against Texas A&M, UCLA began their late comeback with an eight-play, 75-yard drive late in the third quarter, slicing Texas A&M's advantage to 44-17 on a Soso Jamabo six-yard touchdown run.
Early in the fourth quarter, UCLA found the end zone on a nine-yard strike from Rosen to Darren Andrews with 13:22 to play. That touchdown capped an eight-play, 85-yard drive, reducing the Aggies' cushion to 44-24. Rosen hit Andrews again with 8:12 to play, connecting on a 42-yard pass to reduce the deficit to 44-31. The Bruins trimmed the lead to one touchdown with 3:10 to play thanks to a Theo Howard 16-yard touchdown reception and then regained possession after halting the Texas A&M offense with 2:39 left in regulation.
UCLA scored first in the game on an early field goal by JJ Molson, but Texas A&M scored on each of its next three possessions to secure a 17-3 cushion after one quarter. Trailing by a 31-3 margin late in the second quarter, the Bruins reduced Texas A&M's advantage to 31-10 on a four-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Jalen Starks' two-run touchdown run.
The Aggies followed UCLA's touchdown with a 61-yard TD carry by Williams after the ensuing kickoff to enter the locker room at halftime with a 38-10 lead and led 44-10 before UCLA mounted its comeback.
UCLA will host Hawai'i at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 2pm. Tickets can be purchased at uclabruins.com/tickets.