FINAL: UCLA 49, Rice 24

Posted on by

Brett Hundley and UCLA were on fire offensively, and after staking a 19-0 lead and allowing 17 consecutive points, the Bruins rallied. They scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and held Rice scoreless in the second half. There was some ugly stuff – see the special teams unit – but a win is a win and Jim Mora will take it.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email
This entry was posted in Uncategorized by Jill Painter. Bookmark the permalink.

About Jill Painter

Jill Painter is a sports columnist for the Los Angeles News Group, covering everything from the Dodgers, Lakers, Clippers, USC, UCLA, Kings, golf and all human interest stories in sports.
  • Bob Villa

    Same old Bruins.

    Terrible defense, with horrendous tackling and coverage from Price/Hester, two “vets.”

    The offense, outside of Franklin was terrible, as Hundley proved he can’t throw the ball downfield at all, it’s just more of the same with swing passes and screens and that won’t work against anyone other than Rice this year.

    Brehaut is far better.

    Kicker is garbage.

    Still not getting the ball to Fauria enough, the guy can’t be covered.

    Manfro was terrible.

  • INSANITY

    Bob Villa is right- not getting the ball to Fauria anywhere near enough. Franklin was GREAT! Brehaut has an amazing arm, Hundley does not (yet)- Manfro will get better, no doubt.

  • Semi-Pro

    LOL…y’all are funny. 6 TD’s on offense, 650 yards…but our offense was terrible.

    Go lay some flooring, Bob…you’re an awful football analyst.

  • Bruin 45

    I don’t feel like Hundley was awful. I do feel that Brehaut should have been the starter from the start. Just based on experience and his arm is better at this point.

    Fauria is def under used. The guy is a flippin’ beast, but so is Johnson, Evans and the inhuman Lucien. That receiving is lights out.

    But, you have to cut some slack to the freshmen. It was Manfro and Hundley’s first collegiate game. In 3 years, these guys, along with Lucien are going to be NASTY!!

    The defense was atrocious!!! Especially the DB’s. Price and Hester have never been good to me at all. But, they keep winning starting jobs and I just don’t see it.

    Nebraska is going to score a lot of points if we don’t stop the run. We’re in trouble.

  • http://www.yahoo.com BruinRob

    Seriously? Owa’s tackling is horrendous!! Price and Hester were disappointin tonight…these guys are falling for the fakes…kicking game??? what the hell happened!?!? Lucien and Fauria need to be more involved in the game…we need to get our shit together by next week, Nebraska will not be as forgiving.

  • Brock

    Wait, did I just log onto bruinsnation? Calm down. New offense and defensive systems. 650 YARDS of offense, mostly with a freshman qb. Owa had at least 1 sack, Hester got JOBBED on that PI call, obviously should have been offensive pi if anything seeing as how hester looked back for the ball and didn’t interfere with the receiver. Hundley threw the ball down the field just fine. Some passes were behind the receivers, but hes a freshman, what do you expect realistically? Bre came in during trash time, of course he looked good.

    What freshman got their redshirts burned?

  • NOT Jon Gold

    How about changing the name of this blog to NOT JON GOLD since he doesn’t seem to be affiliated to the blog.

  • Facescar

    Hundley was brilliant. He can run far better. Mazzone and Mora didn’t want him throwing downfield and risking turnovers while the game was still close. Hundley had a good balance power and accuracy on most of his throws.

    Considering both sides are running new systems and the humidity was oppressive, I’d say UCLA held up very well. We were tested, but the new Bruins held firm. Last year they would never have pulled away again.

    Coverage was actually pretty good, I just feel like the LBs blitzed too often so that our secondary was always stuck in man-to-man. Tevin McDonald should not be left in 1v1 so often. He’s a safety for cryin’ out loud. Then again, holding a team that runs an offense very similar to ours to <200 yards passing is pretty good.

    Coaches put together a very strong set of adjustments at the half. Hopefully they can get those adjustments in faster next time around.

    Sloppiness abounds in special teams, and too many penalties were called, but I’m ok with that for an opener.

    Line play on both sides was much improved. Our O-line was surprisingly solid. I’m doubtful they’ll survive v. Nebraska, but that’s more understandable I guess. Our Defensive line did their job. Held most designed runs short and set up 7 sacks, including one by McCarthy. That’s already more than half our total from all of last year.

  • bruincheerleader

    sloppy yes…mistakes aplenty…but OVER 600 yards in offense…not since the glory days of…i can’t even remember those glory days…a red shirt freshman comes in and and makes the UCLA offense his own…good for him…what makes me sad is the LATIME SIMERS has NOTHING good to say about the home team football team…we are a Los Angeles home team it even says it in our name…but…the love affair with everythiung matt barkely is evident at that other newspaper…THANKS TO JILL for some good objective reporting on UCLA..the other white meat…:)

  • Coach Thom

    Yes, the ESPN Trojans have their hack writers to spread manure on every other team in the Pac-12…no, make that the country. Simers is an abomination of a reporter and even less as a human being. His pathetic baiting of Coach Jim at the post-game interview had me itching to smash his teeth in. Luckily, Coach Jim held his cool. The Simers LA Times article should be mandatory reading for everyone on the football team…no, make that on every athletic team UCLA supports. He is disgusting…and he loves being so. Such are the goons that get their income from the ESPN Trojans.

  • Nacho El Taquero

    Most points scored since 1998. Mora is saving Fauria for Nebraska. Obviously not going to open the playbook in the first game for all to see.

    Finally, good halftime adjustments. #11 Anthony Barr was a beast out there, flying to the ball. Looked very good.

    Beat the Huskers!

  • Robin Hood Prince of Thieves

    Just read TJ SIMERS column. I bet he wrote that column while wearing a USC cheerleader outfit and Matt Barkley was balls-deep inside him.

  • The Blur

    Hundley runs for a 72 yard td on his first ever college play and you morons are calling for Brehaut. Go back to Bruinsnation.

  • BE REAL

    Two fans at either an SC or ucla game:

    No. 1: Gads. Did you notice on that td run by our guy how he almost tripped going into the end zone?

    No. 2: And our defense gave up over 300 yards. Yikes!

    No. 1: We looked really poor in winning this game.

    No. 2: Yeah, I bet this stupid coach is run out of town inside 3-years.

    (Note: This is typical banter from both SC and ucla fans. Except for their colors, one cannot tell the difference here in Los Angeles)

  • Lightning in a Bottle

    Congrats to Coach Mora. A win is a win. Damn straight. Look forward to continual improvement, and next week will certainly be very telling.

    As to Simers, loved his article. He is good at what he does – baiting thin skinned Bruins fans into a lather. Keep it coming TJ. You have always entertained me, kind of like the way I feel when I watch Sheldon Price try to play cornerback.

  • Casual BN Reader

    The funny thing is that the BN front pagers seem pleased with the overall performance given the circumstances and some people on this site are tearing the team down.

    Why open the playbook for Rice? Did you notice the D blitzed often, as though they’re actually aggressive? What about the performance of an o-line in question? What about all the redshirt and true freshman that played?! Hundley, Lucien, Bredel, Goines, White, Moreau, Goforth, Walker, McCarthy and perhaps a couple more…

  • ProbationU

    We all know it was Rice. Nice to see the defensive adjustments at the half. 1st game for a lot of new stuff. Defensive over agressive after we were up 19-0. Much room for improvement.

    PATs now an adventure. Kicks way too low. Hopefully we will get plenty of opportunity against to improve on them vs. Nebraska. Barr looked great and McCarthy moved some prople around, but it was Rice. Nebraska should tell us a lot more.

  • Bruin Gold

    What happened to Jon Gold? Hope he’s all right.

  • Bruinsduongvt

    Miguel. Do you know if XSF is going to stay at Left Guard rather than left tackle? I am not complaining about the results but was curious if you know if this is experimentation or will be for the long haul. Also, a win is a win. Need to make some adjustments on blitzes, tackling, linebackers in the throwing lanes but what do you expect when we are transitioning Defensive Ends into linebackers? Yes, Hundley needs to take advantage of running to the side lines and just either dumping the ball to a reciever or just throwing the ball away but that is what practice is for. Does anyone expect us to win a national championship this year? I am looking at maybe two years from now and maybe a 8-9 win season next year.

  • http://www.insidesocal.com/ucla/2012/08/final-ucla-49-rice-24.html#_login Glowbruins

    Let’s take a moment to remember what we’re not talking about today:
    - The Bruins did not wilt in the 90+ degree, high humidity conditions;
    - The offensive line did not implode;
    - The team did not fail to make halftime adjustments;
    - The team did not simply play up to its competition; and
    - No major injuries.
    Congrats on the win and taking this first step in the right direction!

  • sandiegobruinfan

    If there was an opening game to iron out some kinks and have both a new coach & QB make their debuts, Rice would be the ideal game…and it was.

    Hundley goes 21 of 28 for 202 with a couple of TDs and one pick. Good job managing the offense and distribution of the ball. Oh and a lead off homerun to open up the game on offense never hurts.

    Mazzone was not joking when he noted the spread would greatly enhance the running game! Most of the folks on this board could have run through those holes that Franklin hit.

    Defense was guilty of being over aggressive and getting out of position in the first half after going up 19-0. Mora’s shining moment of game was the halftime adjustments here. FWI, Barr is a manimal of an LB! Jones and Holmes also looked great.

    Special teams…ugh! Nothing that isn’t correctable here tho especially with a true frosh kicker who just needs to learn to chip shot the PATs.

    All in all, I’m happy as should be most Bruin fans. Enjoy the weekend and get ready for a great home opener against the Huskers next Saturday.

    Go Bruins!

  • VB

    Um.. Why is there the sound of crickets on this blog? Why hasn’t the Daily News ran any stories or write ups on the game last night? Miguel was killing it the past month in training camp, now the blog is dead silent after the Bruins’ first win. No stories? videos? ANYTHING?

  • todo

    Hundley’s first game compared to Barks, pretty even

    Barkley:
    CMP ATT YDS CMP% LNG TD INT
    15 19 233 78.9 44 1 0 RAT Rush ATT rush AVG yard
    199.3 3 -5 -1.7

    Hundley
    CMP ATT YDS CMP% LNG TD INT
    21 28 202 75.0 36 2 1

    RAT Rush ATT yards
    152.0 7 68 9.7 1 TD

  • Anonymous

    Why couldn’t I hear the game on the radio last night? Is 570 AM no longer carrying the games?

  • Nacho El Taquero

    Anony 11:38a.m., game was on 1150am for some reason.

    You can also hear it live stream on uclabruins.com.

  • Sec21R14S110

    the game was on AM 1150…like always. did anyone notice how hoarse the analyst covering the game was!!! Geeze, poor guy he was totally inaudible!

  • AllDayUCLA

    Hundley did good for his first at QB (even tho it’s Rice)

    Mazzone did good at the play calling to keep Hundley comfortable.

    The Offensive line, needs to hold up longer tho.

    The Defense wasn’t horrible in the 1st half, they were just out of sync and out of place. We were in the back field, we were sacking the QB but gave up too many plays.

    2nd half was much better by the Defense. I hope things are settled soon because the next opponent isn’t Rice.

  • todo

    Also keep this in mind,

    UCLA left 17 points on the field (manfro wide open on the 1 yard line and he drops the ball, thigpen’s 50 yard TD called back because of a personal foul after the fact, three missed XPs). Fix those SUPER CORRECTABLE mistakes and all of sudden the score is 66-24, Hundley has 300+ yards and 5 touchdowns (4 passing 1 running).

  • Picard

    (CRICKETS)

    Miguel? Where are you?

  • kiriba08

    Rice is a tiny school (about 5000 students) that should probably be playing in D-II or D-III (like Carroll College or Mt. Union), but it made a nice soft start for the Mora era.

    Next week will be a whole different deal…I hope that it is not a total Nebraska blowout that ruins the confidence of this mostly young team that should improve as the season progresses.

  • Anonymous

    Miguel was only “filling in” for Gold. He’s not the official UCLA beat writer dor the DN. That’s why he didn’t make the trip to Houston. If you want Miguel on the beat permanently then contact the DN and let them know.

  • ANN

    WHAT KIND OF COVERAGE WAS THAT WAS JILL EVEN THERE WTF BAD JOB THE COMMENTS ARE LONGER AND MORE INFORMATIVE.. THIS BLOWS

  • Tony G

    Those wondering why the game was on 1150 was because the Dodgers are also on 570 and have priority with any conflicts as threre was last night

  • ANN’s Husband

    “Ann” is a dumb cunt.