Kevin Prince was the last one in the UCLA locker room on Saturday night, a perma-smile affixed to his face, friends and family waiting for him after his best game as a Bruin.
Three young fans approached him seeking any kind of memorabilia – dirty socks, discarded game-tape, maybe a hat.
Prince had to go digging into his team bag for a wrist band, the only thing he could find.
He had to pause to take out the play sheet, though.
He’ll want to save it for next week.
Prince threw for four touchdowns and the Bruins ran for two more in their most dominating performance of the season on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, a 45-6 dismantling of Colorado that makes the season finale against USC all the more important.
A win, and UCLA will clinch a spot in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.
“He was taking shots downfield and he was making them,” said UCLA junior tight end Joseph Fauria, who caught two of his high school teammate’s touchdown throws. “They were beautiful balls, and they were right on the money, and that’s all you can ask for.”
After being told by offensive coordinator Mike Johnson that he would be firing a deep ball on the team’s first offensive play, Prince had to display a little patience on Saturday.
It took two plays.
After a Johnathan Franklin seven-yard run on the Bruins’ first play after UCLA forced a punt on Colorado’s first drive, Prince let loose a pristine deep bomb into the awaiting arms of a streaking Shaq Evans for a 54-yard touchdown pass.
Prince went on to complete 15-of-19 passes for 225 yards and the four scores while adding 84 yards on the ground, a 309-yard outburst that came a week after the offense sputtered in a 31-6 loss at Utah, where Prince threw two interceptions.
“It was fun, man,” Prince said, flashing the smile. “We worked on that all week – just getting the deep balls down, because it’s been a struggle for me – but calling that, and being able to execute it gave us a huge boost in confidence.”
UCLA finished with 553 yards to Colorado’s 229, the Bruins averaging 8.8 yards a carry by keeping the Buffaloes guessing.
With the Johnathan Franklin-led rushing attack opening holes in the passing game – Franklin finished with 162 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries – UCLA scored touchdowns on its first three drives and last three drives, with a Tyler Gonzalez 22-yard field goal in between.
“We had a good flow, had a good rhythm,” Johnson said. “We wanted to be aggressive tonight, make sure we kept them out of the box and couldn’t load it up to attack us the way (Utah) did last week.”
Added Prince: “After that third touchdown, I felt like we were going to score every time. That’s an immature thing for us – we got ahead and kind of relaxed, got some stupid penalties. But we were able to turn it back on, and that was big for us.”
With the offense clicking early and late, the UCLA defense did something it hasn’t done this season – matched the effort.
The Bruins intercepted three passes from Tyler Hansen, who finished just 16-of-31 for 127 yards, and limited running back Rodney Stewart to just 77 yards on 21 carries.
Colorado averaged just 3.8 yards per play and converted just three-of-13 third downs as UCLA got constant pressure up front against an overmatched offensive line.
“Let’s be the team that can just start beating these teams by 30,” Abbott said. “Let’s not be a team that comes in and makes it a seven-point game or a last-minute field goal. Let’s be dominant.
“Why be afraid of being great?”