The UCLA Bruins’ season began Saturday night at the Rose Bowl against Utah, but no one told the Bruins. UCLA sleepwalked through the first half, a disheartening beginning to Year 2 of the DeShaun Foster era in Westwood. The Bruins headed into halftime trailing 23-7.
It wasn’t just Tino Sunseri’s offense or Ikaika Malloe’s defense; everything was a mess for the Bruins in the opening 30 minutes. Utah quarterback Devon Dampier made UCLA tacklers look silly, both sides of the Bruins’ line of scrimmage looked soft and new quarterback Nico Iamaleava made a few highlight plays but looked out of sorts overall.
Iamaleava got the Bruins on the scoreboard with a nice 19-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Woods down the sideline. Woods’ touchdown cut the deficit to 20-7 and UCLA’s special teams nearly regained momentum, pinning the Utes at their own 4-yard line but the Bruins’ defense weren’t capable of winning the field position battle, as Utah rushed for a couple of first downs followed by a defensive pass interference allowed the Utes to reestablish themselves as the dominant team on the field.
Iamaleava improved as the half wore on but the offense still looked clunky. Iamaleava did show some signs of greatness within the mess, especially with his ability to escape eroding pockets, picking up 33 yards on eight carries while being sacked twice.
Utah was favored by six points on the road so the Bruins trailing isn’t a shock. What’s shocking is just how helpless they looked in the first half.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA looks dreadful in opening half of the season against Utah
Reporting by Dylan McNeill, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
