OREGON 0/14/0/0 - 14
UCLA 14/0/10/7 - 31
PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - Quarterback Braxton Burmeister helped the Ducks rally from a two-score deficit to tie the matchup against the Bruins at 14 apiece, unfortunately, they were held scoreless in the second half for the third game in a row. Royce Freeman became the all-time leading rusher at Oregon by tallying 164 yards to reach 5,103 career yards, surpassing the great LaMichael James. But Freeman’s fantastic performance failed to compensate for the absence of star quarterback Justin Herbert.
The Duck defense forced a three-and-out on UCLA’s opening possession, but at the Oregon 45-yard line Darrian Felix fumbled the ball, and 11 plays later the Bruins’ Soso Jamabo scored the game’s first touchdown on a four-yard run in which he bullied his way past Duck defenders. Oregon punted on their next drive, and UCLA responded with a seven-play, 65-yard drive that was capped off with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Christian Pabico to take a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Braxton Burmeister led two long scoring drives in the second quarter, the first was 15 plays for 75 yards and the other was 15 plays for 76 yards. The first touchdown was set up by a 22-yard pass to Charles Nelson, the most successful pass of Burmeister’s career at the time, and Burmeister himself ran in both scores to tie the game, 14 to 14, at the half.
The second half belonged to Josh Rosen and the UCLA rushing attack, who outscored Oregon 17 to 0. After a sack from Jaelan Phillips led to a Duck punt on the first drive of the third quarter, the Bruins reclaimed the lead with a 42-yard field goal from JJ Molson. A false start doomed Oregon’s proceeding possession, and once again UCLA was able to respond by putting points on the board, this time by giving the ball to Bolu Olorunfunmi who surfed his way into the end zone by leaping onto a Ducks’ shoulders and falling into the end zone to cap a 22-yard run.
The Ducks were down by just ten late in the third, meaning they had plenty of time to put together a comeback bid, but their next three drives were unsuccessful (an interception on a deep pass from Burmeister, a Burmeister fumble on fourth-and-1, and a missed field goal from the UCLA 15-yard line), while the Bruins put together a 10-play, 40-yard drive to score the final touchdown of the game. The 31-14 lead felt insurmountable considering the second-half performance from the Oregon offense.
One of the only bright spot for the Ducks was the fact that they were only called for three penalties for 15 yards, well below their average during the Taggart era. Burmeister once again lost the QB duel, rushing for 48 yards and two TDs, but passing 8-of-15 for 74 yards and an interception versus Josh Rosen’s 21-of-36 for 266 yards and two touchdowns.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of fight, especially in the first half. We came out in the second half and started moving the ball, and then stepped on our own toe. We can't afford to do that.”
- Willie Taggart
Oregon Offense (total: 320 - pass: 74 - rush: 246)
UCLA Offense (total: 408 - pass: 266 - rush: 142)
Oregon Defense (forced turnovers: 0)
UCLA Defense (forced turnovers: 2 - FUM: 1 - INT: 1)
UO (4-4, 1-4) UCLA (4-3, 2-2)