Despite Its Flaws and Another Ugly Win, UCLA Still in Pac-12 Title Hunt

PASADENA, Calif.—No. 22 UCLA’s 17-7 win over No. 12 Arizona on Saturday in the Rose Bowl was a reflection of the Bruins’ season: sometimes ugly, at other times impressive and ultimately, enough to keep them in contention in the Pac-12.

“We are sitting at 7-2 and it hasn’t been easy,” head coach Jim Mora said. “They keep fighting.”

No, little has come easily for Mora’s bunch. Saturday was UCLA’s third straight win, and the 10-point margin was its most lopsided in this run.

But despite scoring only a field goal in the first half and racking up an alarming 11 penalties for 118 yards, UCLA pulled even in the loss column with one of the three Pac-12 South teams it was looking up at to start the night.

Combined with Utah’s 19-16 loss at Arizona State, the Bruins moved two steps closer to fulfilling the scenarios needed to reach the Pac-12 Championship Game.

Defense and special teams helped the Bruins through their sluggish start against the Wildcats.

Punter Matt Mengel pinned Arizona inside its own 20-yard line six times, which made UCLA’s stifling defense all the more daunting for the Wildcats.

A Paul Perkins' touchdown run and 70-yard scoring bomb from quarterback Brett Hundley to wide receiver Jordan Payton in the third quarter was all the offense the Bruins needed because of the great play in the other phases.

That’s a big step for UCLA in its final stretch, particularly on the defensive side. UCLA gave up big yards and points in bunches in its previous conference outings.

“Today was the first game that I felt defensively like we did that we were supposed to on every play,” Mora said.

As for the offense, there was a lot of stop-and-go. But gaining 271 yards on 59 carries—“that’s like Bear Bryant,” Mora joked—allowed UCLA to dictate the tempo.

Once it softened the Arizona defense, the opportunities came.

“We just needed momentum,” Perkins said.

Before that quick burst of offense, all the Bruins could muster through one half was a field goal.

The Bruins’ offensive woes were perhaps never more magnified than on a 4th-and-1 from the Arizona 44-yard line when Mora sent the punt unit on the field. The call was met with a chorus of boos from the 80,000-plus in attendance.

Mora attributed his decision to past fourth-down misfires. But with the defense playing its best game of the year, UCLA's conservative offensive approach paid off.

Arizona’s veteran offensive line struggled with an aggressive and persistent pass rush from UCLA. The Bruins got to freshman quarterback Anu Solomon for three sacks, making good on a season-long quest of coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s bunch to generate more pressure in the backfield.

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“When we get one, the [offensive] line just…gets off [its] game,” linebacker Deon Hollins said, describing the process of getting sacks as self-fulfilling.

Hollins didn’t record a sack, but he made his presence known to Solomon routinely.

“Our ears are pinned back, we smell blood and we just go,” Hollins said.

That the defense was able to draw blood early was UCLA’s saving grace. The Bruins outplayed Arizona through a disjointed first half, holding the prolific Wildcats offense to just 103 yards through the first two quarters.

Of course, with the good of a tenacious defensive effort came the bad of 98 yards in penalties.

“It’s really the thing that’s holding us back right now,” Mora said of penalties.

Three of the Bruins’ flags came on Arizona third downs that the defense had otherwise stopped, including two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls on Myles Jack that extended the Wildcats’ sole scoring drive.

After its touchdown on the game’s opening possession, Arizona was not in scoring range again until one minute remaining in the third quarter.

Both of the Wildcats’ second-half chances ended with missed field goals.

UCLA comes away from Saturday’s win with plenty it can still improve upon. The penalty yardage remains an albatross, and repeated offensive lulls leave the Bruins vulnerable.

But Hollins described each win like building blocks that move UCLA closer to its goal of winning the Pac-12. It may not have been pretty, but the Bruins laid a sizable block by knocking off Arizona.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics via UCLA athletic department.