UCLA Bruins Lead Arizona Wildcats at the Half, 7-6

After a strong start, the Bruins’ offense was stymied for much of the first half....Sound familiar?

The Bruins, showing no early signs of a hangover after last Saturday’s historic upset, forced a punt on the Wildcats’ first possession and then drove down 85 yards for the game’s opening score — a 2-yard touchdown pass by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to tight end Matt Lynch.

The Bruins forced another punt on the following drive but were unable to extend their lead, turning the ball over on downs on their own 36-yard line. With a short field, the Wildcats still failed to score as kicker Lucas Havrisik pushed a 34-yard field goal attempt wide to open the second quarter.

After Thompson-Robinson threw his sixth interception on the season — the most in the Pac-12 — the Wildcats reached the Bruins’ 10-yard line after backup quarterback Grant Gunnell found wide receiver Drew Dixon for 24 yards. Fortunately, an offensive holding penalty stalled the Wildcats in the red zone and they settled for a field goal.

The Bruins, of course, followed the Wildcats’ score by going three-and-out. Aided by an unbelievably generous spot on a fourth down dive, the Wildcats cut the Bruins’ lead down to one on a 41-yard field goal with 3:14 left to play in the half. The Bruins then failed to muster a last-second drive, somewhat puzzlingly passing on 4th and 11 before heading into the tunnel up by a point.

So far, the Bruins have failed to take advantage of the absence of Arizona Wildcats dual-threat quarterback Khalil Tate. The Bruins have, once again, been maligned by poor play-calling and sloppy offensive execution. Demetric Felton hasn’t been used much so far. Thankfully, the Bruin defense has been able to limit the Wildcats’ attack and preserve a slim lead through two quarters, but will it be enough to hold on for a much-needed win?

The offense must do more. Maybe I spoke too soon about that hangover.

Listen to the Game Here on BN!

This season, we are proud to, again, have today’s audio feed for everyone who opts to use the TuneIn player embedded below. For optimum results at home, start the audio feed then pause your DVR and sync them up together so you don’t have to listen to the ESPN broadcast team of Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, and Rocky Boiman if you don’t want to!

This is your UCLA Bruins at Arizona Wildcats second half thread.


Go Bruins!