UCLA Bruins 37 UNLV Rebels 3 - Postgame Thread

The U.C.L.A. Bruins moved to 2-0 on the season after a dominating, if not totally impressive,

The final game stats are here.

Following a pretty clunky first half on offense, the Bruins got going early in the second half. After Myles Jack was inexplicably allowed to return the kickoff (which he did for 29 yds) the Bruins put together a solid drive that ended with Paul Perkins running left for a 6 yard TD to go up 24-0.  Deon Hollins stripped the Rebel QB on the next drive and the Bruins recovered and looked ready to turn this into a blowout. But as the Bruins got deep in the Rebels territory, the Bruins missed a blitz from the outside. Rosen was hit as he threw and the ball was picked near the goalline.

Never mind. The Vegas offense was barely even one dimensional and when the Bruins got the ball back, Paul Perkins went off the right side and ran untouched for a 56 yard touchdown to make it 31-0. Takkarist McKinley showed up big again with a blocked punt and Fairbairn was a lock from 34 yds to make it 34-0. He added a perfect 43 yarder early in the 4th to get to 37-0.

After that it was game time for the 3 and 4 and more deep to finish things up. Jerry Neuheisel threw one interception that almost spoiled the shoutout, but a penalty brought back the big return and the defense did the rest. He threw another pick later that should have been caught and was returned into the red zone and when the D did its job once more, UNLV kicked the short field goal to avoid the shutout.

Overall, it's hard to take a lot from this game as UNLV was outmatched and was eventually overwhelmed by the Bruins on both sides of the ball. The offense was frequently inconsistent and needs to be better at getting in a rhythm and connecting on the deeper throws. Jake Brendel suffered a foot injury and was held out of the second half. That needs to not be serious as that is the Bruins thinnest position along the OL though the second team did play well. The Bruins also look like they lost true freshman OL Tavita Halalilo to a lower leg injury in garbage time. The UNLV offense was barely even one dimensional after losing its starting QB, and the defense nearly pitched its first shutout since 2007 (Oregon, HT to Chiefsdodgerslakers and Iphelion and pretty much everyone else in the thread) so it's hard to see how they could have done more.

It's a win and like any game, there are pros and cons. Share your thoughts on tonight's game here in our postgame thread.

GO BRUINS!!