UCLA
2-5 , 2-2
Arizona
3-5 , 2-3
Bruins Prevail in Back-and-Forth Affair With Arizona
October 20, 2018 | Football
After the Bruins (2-5, 2-2 Pac-12) controlled the first half, Saturday night's contest turned into a back-and-forth affair after halftime. The second half of the see-saw battle featured four lead changes before UCLA sealed its sixth win against Arizona in the two schools' last seven meetings.
UCLA, which registered a season-high of 460 total offensive yards, took the lead for good early in the fourth quarter. After Arizona had claimed a 27-24 lead on an eight-play, 72-yard drive, the Bruins answered with a 28-yard touchdown run from Kelley. In just four plays, UCLA had secured a 31-27 lead with 11:33 to play.
Arizona pulled to within one point, at 31-30, after Josh Pollack connected on a 29-yard field goal with 6:28 left in the contest.
Kelley finished the evening with a career-high 31 carries, logging his fourth consecutive game with at least 100 rushing yards.
UCLA quarterback Wilton Speight completed 17 of 27 passes for 204 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Arizona overcame a 17-7 deficit in the third quarter and took a 20-17 lead before the Bruins responded late in the period.
UCLA took a 24-20 lead with 3:08 left in the third quarter thanks to a six-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by a 25-yard touchdown pass from Speight to Demetric Felton.
After the Bruins fumbled the ball in their own territory with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter, Arizona's Rhett Rodriguez fired an 11-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Poindexter for the game-tying score (17-17).
UCLA opened by scoring the game's first 10 points. The Bruins drove 62 yards on their first offensive possession, closing the drive with a 16-yard pass from quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to Kazmeir Allen at the 9:51 mark. The Bruins claimed a 10-0 cushion with a 40-yard field goal by J.J. Molson at the 14:56 mark in the second quarter.
One of the key defensive plays for UCLA, which forced three turnovers, came with the Bruins up by 10 in the second quarter. With the ball at the Arizona 44-yard line, J.J. Taylor broke away from the defense and raced for the end zone, but Darnay Holmes tracked him down and forced a fumble at the 1-yard line, recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Arizona reduced the Bruins' cushion to 10-7 on the Wildcats' seventh drive of the game. Rodriguez connected on a 24-yard pass to Poindexter with 6:38 remaining in the first half.
UCLA added to its lead with a touchdown just before halftime. Speight connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Devin Asiasi at the 1:34 mark in the second quarter, putting the Bruins ahead 17-7.
Next up for the Bruins is a matchup against Utah on Friday, Oct. 26 at the Rose Bowl.
Team Stats
ARIZ 0, UCLA 7
UCLA - Allen, Kazmeir 16 yd pass from Thmpsn-Robinson (Molson, Jj kick) 9 plays, 62 yards, TOP 4:11
ARIZ 0, UCLA 10
UCLA - Molson, Jj 40 yd field goal 7 plays, 53 yards, TOP 3:22
ARIZ 7, UCLA 10
ARIZ - Poindexter, S. 13 yd pass from Rodriguez, R. (Pollack, J. kick) 5 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:00
ARIZ 7, UCLA 17
UCLA - Asiasi, Devin 24 yd pass from Speight, Wilton (Molson, Jj kick) 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:04
ARIZ 10, UCLA 17
ARIZ - Pollack, J. 29 yd field goal 9 plays, 71 yards, TOP 3:09
ARIZ 17, UCLA 17
ARIZ - Poindexter, S. 11 yd pass from Rodriguez, R. (Pollack, J. kick) 3 plays, 15 yards, TOP 1:14
ARIZ 20, UCLA 17
ARIZ - Pollack, J. 39 yd field goal 5 plays, 66 yards, TOP 1:53
ARIZ 20, UCLA 24
UCLA - Felton, D. 25 yd pass from Speight, Wilton (Molson, Jj kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:50
ARIZ 27, UCLA 24
ARIZ - Taylor, J.J. 1 yd run (Pollack, J. kick), 8 plays, 72 yards, TOP 2:47
ARIZ 27, UCLA 31
UCLA - Kelley, Joshua 28 yd run (Molson, Jj kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:01
ARIZ 30, UCLA 31
ARIZ - Pollack, J. 29 yd field goal 11 plays, 63 yards, TOP 5:00
