New quarter, same Colorado offense. The Buffs started this drive from deep in their own red zone and picke up some solid yards, but eventually had to punt for the fifth time already. Five punts in 18 minutes of game play is not exactly a winning formula.
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Brett Hundley is running the ball well and completing short passes, but has been missing on the long ball consistently. Missing by a lot, actually. The Bruins couldn’t convert on a third and 20, so UCLA ends the first quarter with a 17 point lead.
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Fabian Moreau is already having one of the better games of his season. He had a tackle behind the line earlier, and on this drive, he played Colorado star Nelson Spruce perfectly on a pass down the sideline. The Bruins forced another punt, Colorado’s fourth of the game. The Bruins really couldn’t have started this game off any better.
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UCLA 17, Colorado 0 (4:00 left in the first quarter)
UCLA couldn’t get the first down, but Ka’imi Fairbairn made sure the Bruins capitalized on the Eric Kendricks interception with points. His 31-yard field goal made this a three score game.
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Eric Kendricks is having a heck of a game. He’s made two huge third down stops, and then ended this Colorado drive early with an interception. UCLA has a great chance to extend this big lead early.
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UCLA 14, Colorado 0 (5:22 left in the first quarter)
Brett Hundley had Mossi Johnson open deep down the field, but overthrew him badly. Hundley found Devin Fuller on a crossing route on third down, though, which gave the Bruins a big first down. On UCLA’s next third down, he found Johnson for the conversion.
Two plays later, Hundley found Jordan Payton in the middle of the field. Payton is strong enough that it’s hard to tackle him in the open field, so he barreled his way into the end zone fairly easily. UCLA is playing well so far.
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Hey, Fabian Moreau. The cornerback left last week’s game with a stinger, but made a huge tackle on second down to drop Colorado for a big loss. The Buffs couldn’t convert the long third down and will be punting for the third time this game.
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The answer to that question was no. Perkins and the rest of the UCLA offense got stuffed on third and short, so the Bruins were forced to punt. Pretty miserable blocking on that failed conversion.
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The first play of this Colorado drive started with a wide receiver reverse pass. If receiver Shay Fields threw that ball a little more accurately, that might have been a touchdown. But another nice play by Eric Kendricks on third down stopped this drive near midfield. The Bruins get the ball on the 20 yard lin. Let’s see if Paul Perkins can rip off anohter huge run.
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UCLA 7, Colorado 0 (12:47 left in the first quarter)
UCLA’s starting offensive line is the same as last week, and so far, it’s worked out. The Bruins started this drive off with a penalty, but then Paul Perkins took the ball and bullied through a nice hole in the left side of the line. The 92-yard score gives the Bruin the early lead, and is the second longest touchdown run in UCLA history. You can’t start a game off better than that.
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It’s 75 degrees at kickoff. Colorado starts this game with the ball, and went down quietly. Eric Kendricks made a nice tackle on a third down screen pass, and now UCLA will get the ball with a chance to take an early lead.
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Some injury updates: Offensive lineman Alex Redmond and Simon Goines are both going through warmups, but not with the first team. The starting offensive line appears to be the same as last week, which means Redmond and Goines still aren’t ready to go.
Wide receiver Thomas Duarte is on the field, but not warming up. Looks like the hamstring injury he suffered against Cal is going to hold him out of this game.
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UCLA should beat Colorado handidly, but then again, they should’ve rolled over Cal last weekend and a few nonconference opponents before that. It’s been written about over and over again, but this team has played down to its competition all season. So this game is important not just because the Bruins need a win to stay alive in the race for a Pac-12 championship, but also to see if they can string together a solid performance against an underwhelming opponent.
Colorado is 2-5 this season, having lost all four of its conference games and also dropping to Colorado State in August. The Buffaloes have a solid pass defense, statistically, but allow 176 rushing yards per game. For comparison’s sake, Stanford allows just a tick over 100 rushing yards per game.
Offensively, Colorado’s biggest weapon is Nelson Spruce. There isn’t a close second. Spruce leads the Pac-12 in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He’s the real deal, and is going to be a big test for the Bruins. It will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich sticks Anthony Jefferson on Spruce, or whether or not it will be more of a comittee aprroach.
Something else to ponder: UCLA has won seven consecutive games away from the Rose Bowl. It is the second longest winning streak away from home (Rose Bowl, Coliseum) in team history. The Bruins won 10 consecutive games away from home in 1997-98, ending with the traumatic loss at Miami that lost UCLA a spot in the national title games.
I am not in Boulder today, but reporter Chris Foster is on scene this morning and says that it’s sunny and in the low 80s. That sums up like 90% of days in Colorado, but it’s certainly not bad football weather.
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