UCLA Fails To Capitalize On Turnovers and Loses To #15 Colorado 20-10

A bad season got worse for the Bruins tonight as UCLA lost to Colorado 20-10.

The game started with the teams swapping a pair of interceptions. First, it was Sefo Liufau whose 3rd-and13 pass was intercepted by Tahaan Goodman. After UCLA drove 51 yards, Mike Fafaul threw a pick to Kenneth Olugbode who returned it 51 yards to the Bruins’ 38-yard line.

Eight plays later, Philip Lindsay scored on a one-yard run to give the Buffs a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Ishmael Adams ran it back 47 yards and an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Colorado gave the Bruins an extra 15 yards. That set up a 39-yard touchdown pass from Mike Fafaul to Darren Andrews.

UCLA added a 48-yard field goal by JJ Molson early in the second quarter and the teams went into the locker rooms with UCLA ahead 10-7 at the half.

After an exchange of punts to start the second half, Colorado drove deep into UCLA territory. But, the Bruin defense held tough on a goal line stand and forced the Buffaloes to settle for a game-tying field goal.

After UCLA got the ball back, the Bruins drove 48 yards down to the Colorado 27-yard line. With it 4th-and-10, Jim Mora trotted out his field goal unit. But, JJ Molson missed a 44-yard attempt and the score remained tied.

The Buffs responded by driving down as close as the UCLA 4-yard line. But, a combination of good defense from the Bruins and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Colorado’s Bryce Bobo forced Buffalo Coach Mike MacIntyre to send out his field goal unit again and again Chris Graham got the ball through the uprights to give Colorado their first lead of the game.

With about five and a half minutes left, Isaiah Oliver returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

Over all, this was a sloppy game by both teams. They combined 25 penalites for 224 yards. UCLA was penalized almost four times as many yards as they gained rushing.

But, ultimately for the Bruins, it was UCLA’s inability to capitalize on the four first half turnovers by the Buffaloes that proved to be the deciding factor in this game.

Jim Mora’s Pac-12 Conference record (24-19) is now worse than Karl Dorrell’s Conference record (24-18) and tonight’s game left many Bruin fans just embarassed in much the same way that the 2011 team embarassed the four letters in a Thursday night game against Arizona.

Jim Mora may say that he hasn’t "lost the locker room", but, at this point, it’s also clear that he doesn’t seem to have all that much control over it either.

Go Bruins.