The Bruins almost blew a 24 point lead in the fourthquarter, however their offensive performance was enough points to secure the win over the No. 15 squad in the nation.
The Huskies were able to close the gap to the end however, the Bruins with their powerful offense were able to pull off a win and take the win during the Rose Bowl.
UCLA soccer (5-0 and 2-0 Pac-12) scored an upset win against No. 15 Washington (4-1 1-1 Pac-12) at the end of Friday’s game, defying an enormous comeback attempt and securing the victory of 40-32. The Bruins had a lead of 40-16 at beginning on the final quarter however, they saw the lead shrink by eight points in last minutes.
It took a third-down strike from quarterback Dorian Thomson-Robinson and tight-end Hudson Habermehl to ice it and keep the clock running when the Huskies had exhausted their timeouts. This added to the quarterback’s impressive performance. Thompson-Robinson was the leader with his booming voice, the Bruins did not punt until they had less than eight minutes to go in the last quarter.
Thompson-Robinson ran up 315 yards and three touchdowns in the air, completing a pass of 24-of-33 in addition to 53 yards as well as a score on ground too. Thompson-Robinson’s most sought-after target included Duke transfers player Jake Bobo, who racked up two touchdowns and 142 yards two of which were career highs with six catch.
Run-back Zach Charbonnet did his fair amount too, with 22 carries and gaining an impressive 124 yards and an own touchdown. UCLA scored an average of 6.9 yards per play during the night, and required every single one of their total 499 yards to win the victory.
The Bruins defense, however was not without its downs and ups before almost allowing the Huskies come back and a soaring start to the second.
After Washington scored the first touchdown of their game of the night the UCLA defense was able to shut it down the rest of the first half. The Huskies scored just 2.56 yards per game between their touchdown in the first quarter and midway through the game the drives ended with a field-goal and a safety, as well as two interceptions, and the punt.
With their defense’s improvement along with a kick returned from Kazmeir Allen that could be an touchdown had it not been the tripping penalty that was imposed in the open field The Bruins were given an advantage plus field position. But, UCLA saw their drives come to an end at Washington’s 3,6 and 16-yard lines. they scored a mere of three points in the three games.
Two of those drives resulted in unsuccessful 4th-and-short conversions. Thompson-Robinson having for the ball to be thrown away due to stress on the initial and Charbonnet being forced to throw it away in the middle of the field on the following.
The inability to capitalize completely cost the Bruins but they still had a lead of 26-10 going into halftime. in a position to get the ball on the opposite end of the half.
When they finally got in the game, the UCLA offensive did not let up.
The Bruins played just 13 times in the third quarter however, they put two touchdown drives, eventually going ahead 40-16. The Huskies scored an unofficial touchdown on their first game of the period however they missed an attempt to convert two points that could have made it an all-score game.
Washington began their fourth quarter scoring on a score however, they actually converted their two-point conversion second time, however, only 12 minutes remaining in the clock. The next time they received the ball back, following UCLA’s only punt of the game – they drove 93 yards, and scored eight more points.
The comeback effort was real and the Huskies were cruising with all the momentum just four minutes left. The Bruins were able to squander the entire time, however, with Thompson-Robinson running for two first downs before making a pass for another.
With Thompson-Robinson’s dazzling play, UCLA secured its first victory over a top-ranked opponent on Friday. The Bruins are now 5-0 for the year, and have a winning streak of eight games that dates back to the close of 2021’s campaign.
UCLA will be granted eight days of rest before playing No. 12-ranked Utah on the Rose Bowl on Oct. 8 which could be one of the most talked-about ranked games should the Bruins rise in the rankings following Friday’s shocking win.
