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The final score was much closer than anyone thought. Both teams played a very sloppy game that was filled with penalties and dumb mistakes. In the end, UCLA could not overcome their penalties and stupid mistakes or the Trojans.
The bottom line is that UCLA could have won this football game. Whether it was the shanked punt where the Southern Cal return team faked out everyone wearing blue and gold or the ineligible receiver penalty that preceded it or, for that matter, all the penalties including a clipping penalty deep inside Trojan territory, this game was winnable.
And, in typical Jim Mora fashion, the team turned a winnable game into another defeat.
Throughout the game, the Bruins kept shooting themselves in the foot.
It was the same football game we’ve been watching for years. It was like the movie “Groundhog Day.”
We’ve seen it all before with really only one exception and that was Bruin defense which finally showed up in the 11th game of the season. The defense held the Southern Cal rushing game to 153 yards rushing, by far their best performance of the season. They also held Sam Darnold to just 264 yards passing with no TDs and 1 interception.
On the other side of the ball, Josh Rosen was Josh Rosen. He threw for 421 yards and had 3 TD passes, all to Jordan Lasley, while only throwing 1 interception. He also had one lost fumble. It may have been Rosen’s best game of the season overall.
But, after the shanked punt that made our punt team look stupid, the Bruins were playing catch-up almost the entire night and, in the end, they were just not able to score often enough in the final three quarters to overcome Southern Cal’s lead.
As a result, Jim Mora lost his third straight game to Southern Cal.
Go Bruins.