Utah vs. UCLA: Score and Twitter Reaction
The Utah Utes utilized a late field goal from Andy Phillips to notch a stunning 30-28 upset victory over the No. 8-ranked UCLA Bruins on Saturday night, capping off one of the craziest college football days in recent memory.
UCLA kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn had a chance to win it in the final seconds, but his 50-yard effort missed wide and gave the Utes the shocking win.
Here is a look at the quarter-by-quarter score from the contest:
| Utah Utes | 7 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 30 |
| UCLA Bruins | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
The Bruins players came into the game secure in the knowledge that a composed win over the Utes could drastically improve their rankings. Alabama, Oregon, Texas A&M and Oklahoma—all ranked ahead of UCLA in The Associated Press poll coming into Week 6—lost to lower-ranked opponents in a topsy-turvy weekend. It was a rare opportunity to vault up the rankings without having to beat another top-25 opponent to do so.
Unfortunately, the Bruins came out flat and looked like they would surely add to the chaos already at hand in college football.
Perhaps feeling the pressure to perform after so many upsets earlier in the day, the Bruins punted on their first two possessions and struggled to move the ball at all in the first quarter.
UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley, one of several dark-horse Heisman candidates at this point in the season, put his team in a quick 7-0 hole when Utah defensive back Tevin Carter picked off an ill-advised pass and returned it 27 yards for a shocking touchdown.
Utah showed it wasn't going to play it safe and try to eke out a victory over the Bruins, nailing an early psychological blow by recovering an onside kick following the return touchdown. Quarterback Kendal Thompson was unable to do anything with the extra possession, however.
After another Bruins drive ended in a punt, the Utes held the ball into the second quarter and went up 14-0 soon after the restart on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Thompson to wide receiver Dres Anderson.
Head coach Jim Mora opted to give the ball to running back Paul Perkins early and often on the next possession, and he rewarded his team's faith with a four-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 82-yard drive.
Both offenses stalled out after that point, extending drives but failing to push the ball into scoring range. The offensive line did little to protect Hundley. The Los Angeles Times' Eric Sondheimer gave his thoughts on Twitter:
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah noted that Hundley struggles with pressure at times and looks to scramble before going through his progressions:
The Utes managed to add a field goal just before the end of the first half to make the score 17-7 and really put pressure on UCLA to come up with an effective game plan to avoid the unthinkable.
The Bruins opted to ramp up the ground game in the third quarter to mostly positive results. They cut the Utes' lead to three on a one-yard plunge from sophomore defensive lineman Eddie Vanderdoes, who briefly stole the spotlight from linebacker Myles Jack as a moonlighting ball-carrier.
Utah didn't blink and scored on the next possession. Running back Devontae Booker, who finished the game with 156 yards rushing, finished off a 12-play drive with a bruising six-yard touchdown run to give the Utes a 24-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Jack Wang of the Los Angeles Daily News noted Booker benefited from some suspect Bruins tackling:
Hundley, in the midst of a sluggish, off-kilter performance, showed early in the final quarter why he could become a fine QB at the next level. Starting from his own 7-yard line, Hundley withstood the pressure in a collapsing pocket and floated a perfect pass to hit an in-stride Devin Fuller on a wheel route down the left sideline. Fuller outran everyone en route to a 93-yard touchdown that again cut the Utes' lead down to three.
Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel summed up Hundley's cool under pressure:
Hundley narrowly avoided a safety on the Bruins' next possession. The offensive line, still leaking like a sieve at this point, allowed several Utes to collapse the pocket and force Hundley backward and toward his own goal line, but the Arizona native held tough and let UCLA escape the failed drive with a punt.
Utah then got another field goal from Phillips to take a 27-21 lead with just over six minutes remaining. Thompson was especially flashy carrying the ball in the second half, thrilling fans with a stunning spin move late in the game. Wang gave his thoughts on the play:
The Bruins, who hadn't enjoyed a lead throughout the entire game, finally broke through on a 40-yard touchdown strike from Hundley to unheralded freshman wideout Eldridge Massington.
The 28-27 mark on the scoreboard energized the crowd, but the Utes had plenty of time to make a final push of their own. They pushed through the Bruins defense with a steady mix of runs from Booker and Thompson, setting up Phillips for a field-goal try with 37 seconds remaining. The kick was, powerful straight and true and gave Utah a two-point lead with 34 seconds remaining.
This fan believed the Utes gave Hundley too much time to work with, despite the fact the Bruins had no timeouts remaining:
Hundley moved his team into field-goal range and set up Fairbairn with a chance to hit a 55-yarder for the win. His first attempt was well off, but the officials called a running-into-the-kicker penalty and gave him another chance, this time from 50 yards out. SportsCenter has the play:
Wide right, and a wide open race for the College Football Playoff.
Th disappointing result for the Bruins opens up not only the race for the playoff, but it turns the Pac-12 into an unknown commodity as well. Arizona State defeated USC just over a week after getting drubbed by the Bruins, while Notre Dame defeated Stanford on Saturday afternoon.
Combine these results with Oregon's Thursday loss to an undefeated Arizona, and the Pac-12 race is as wide open as it has been in years. If Oregon or UCLA can win the Pac-12 championship without accruing another loss, they could find themselves back in the hunt for the national championship title.
