UCLA vs. BYU: Postgame Grades for Bruins, Cougars

The magic finally ran out for the BYU Cougars on Saturday, as the UCLA Bruins solidified their standing as one of the top 10 squads in the country with a 24-23 victory. 

Paul Perkins rushed for 219 yards to pick up quarterback Josh Rosen's slack. 

With that, let's check out the postgame positional unit grades for each team. 

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Rush Offense	A	A+
Pass Offense	F	C-
Rush Defense	B-	C+
Pass Defense	C+	B-
Special Teams	A	A
Coaching	B-	A-

UCLA

Rush Offense: Behind the legs of Perkins, the Bruins totaled 296 yards on the ground to bailout Rosen, who had more than just an off night. It was the spark from Nate Starks on the final UCLA drive, punctuated by his touchdown run, that ultimately gave the Bruins their first and only lead of the game. 

Pass Offense: Rosen was hailed as a potential dark horse for the Heisman after his performances in Weeks 1 and 2. However, the BYU secondary stymied the freshman gunslinger all night. He threw three picks to one touchdown and had just 106 yards on 11-of-23 passing. 

Rush Defense: The UCLA front line bent but didn't break on Saturday night. They gave up 161 total rushing yards, 149 of them to Adam Hine, but they ultimately held their ground enough to force Tanner Mangum to throw the ball 47 times. 

Pass Defense: Just because two teams before you gave up Hail Mary touchdowns doesn't mean you have to, right? Well, that was indeed right for the Bruins, who held on in the final drive of the game with an interception by Myles Jack. The Cougars did have 244 yards through the air, but Mangum was constantly under pressure throughout the game. 

Special Teams: The kicking was solid, the punting was solid and Devin Fuller even had a big return that set up a UCLA touchdown. All good on this front. 

Coaching: Jim Mora finally figured it out in the second half. Turn up the tempo. When the Bruins did that on offense, BYU struggled to get stops and were forced to burn two timeouts early in the second half, leaving them helpless after Jack's interception in the game's final minute. It took nearly the full 60 minutes, but Mora coached his team to a solid victory. 

Positional Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Rush Offense	B+	B
Pass Offense	B+	B
Rush Defense	D	F
Pass Defense	A+	A-
Special Teams	A	A
Coaching	A	B-

BYU

Rush Offense: Hine was effective most of the night, picking up 149 of the team's 161 rushing yards and rushing for a score. However, there was little Mangum or Nate Carter did to complement him in the backfield, and he wore down ever so slightly as the game got to its critical point. 

Pass Offense: Mangum did all he could on Saturday night, and overall, he had an excellent performance. He was 30-of-47 passing for 244 yards and a touchdown. But that last interception ended up being the nail in the coffin for BYU's magical start. 

Rush Defense: Perkins ran all over the Cougars defense. When he was too tired to go, Starks came in and picked up right where his buddy left off. The Cougars simply gave up too many big runs, and it ended up playing a huge part in their loss down the stretch. 

Pass Defense: Rosen was taught a lesson by the BYU defense on Saturday night. The Cougars had three interceptions, including two in the red zone, limiting the freshman to 11-of-23 passing. BYU's pass defense was as good as their run defense was bad. 

Special Teams: Like UCLA, there are no gripes about BYU's special teams. Trevor Samson nailed all three of his field goals, the Cougars recovered an onside kick and averaged 41.4 yards on their punts. 

Coaching: Bronco Mendenhall did not coach a bad game. Winning in the Rose Bowl as the visitor is no easy task. But Mendenhall's undoing on Saturday was his team's unpreparedness for the Bruins' uptempo offense, which really turned up in the second half.