UCLA ruins Wilson's debut start, beats Utah 21-14


7 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - Travis Wilson's first drive as Utah's starting quarterback ended with an interception on a deflected pass. Although the touted freshman made no major mistakes after that against UCLA, Wilson also didn't do nearly enough to get the Utes' offense back in gear.

UCLA 21, Utah 14
Quotables
"He is elusive. We made him appear more elusive than he is, because we didn't maintain our discipline on the pass rush. We did a very poor job with that." -Utah coach Kyle Whittingham about UCLA quarterback Brett HundleyGame Day Coverage

#box

Brett Hundley passed for 183 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 68 yards and another score, and UCLA's defense largely shut down Utah in a 21-14 victory Saturday.

Wilson went 23 of 33 for 220 yards in his first career start, but the Utes (2-4, 0-3) lost their third straight. UCLA's defense shut out the Utah offense until Wilson led a 90-yard drive capped by Jon Hays' 1-yard TD pass to Dres Anderson with 3:16 to play.

Wilson got passing grades, but the Utah offense is still failing in a few major areas of concern for coach Kyle Whittingham.

"I thought (Wilson) grew in this game and showed some progress," Whittingham said. "There was no deer-in-the-headlights look at any point in the game with him."

After an unimpressive effort by Utah's offense last week against Southern California, Whittingham shook up his lineup by giving the start to Wilson, a product of Orange County's San Clemente High School who had played in every game this season as a backup.

Hays, who had started the Utes' past three games since they lost Jordan Wynn to a career-ending shoulder injury, ended up throwing the Utes' only TD pass when Wilson had to leave the game for one play because his helmet came off.

"Overall, I think we did all right," said Wilson, who had known he would start since midweek. "But there's a lot of things we need to do better. We've still got a lot of areas to improve, and they're a tough defense."

Anderson, the son of former UCLA receiver Flipper Anderson, had nine catches for 70 yards for the Utes, who have never won at the Rose Bowl. Utah is off to another winless start in Pac-12 play after starting 0-4 last year before a strong finish.

Utah got its only points of the first three quarters when Ryan Lacy recovered a muffed punt return by UCLA's Steven Manfro in the end zone late in the first quarter.

"I don't think it feels any better, (but) we're more competitive, I can tell you that," Whittingham said. "We're a better football team than we were last year. I can say that without hesitation. Our record doesn't say that, but I feel like we're better prepared to compete in this conference."

Johnathan Franklin rushed for 79 yards and a TD for the Bruins (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12), who bounced back solidly from a blowout loss to California that knocked them out of the Top 25 last weekend. UCLA did little to dazzle the Rose Bowl crowd, but also never got seriously threatened by a perennial bowl team.

"The offense is doing a great job of staying poised, even if we're only getting 3 yards a play," Hundley said. "We have the ability to keep grinding it out. Utah is an amazing defense, and they played their hearts out. This was big for us."

With its best start to a season since 2007, UCLA is just one win away from bowl eligibility for the second straight year. The Bruins thought their comprehensively solid effort against Utah suggested they can do even more.

"We're too good to be just bowl-eligible," said UCLA tight end Joseph Fauria, who caught three passes for 41 yards. "That's the old UCLA. We're trying to be a lot better than that. We took a big step today."

Hundley went 15 for 21 and threw a 64-yard TD pass to Shaq Evans in another impressive performance against a strong defense, showing off his smarts and athleticism while leading several lengthy drives. The freshman also demonstrated toughness after tweaking his knee on the first snap of the game, gathering himself during a quick timeout and playing on.

"He is elusive," Whittingham said. "We made him appear more elusive than he is, because we didn't maintain our discipline on the pass rush. We did a very poor job with that."

Andrew Abbott intercepted a tipped pass by Wilson on the freshman's opening drive, and UCLA mounted a 13-play scoring march capped by Hundley's expert ball fake on a 12-yard TD run up the middle.

After UCLA opened the second half by stopping Utah on fourth down at the Bruins 34, Hundley calmly engineered a 14-play scoring drive capped by Franklin's 3-yard TD run.

Utah finally got moving in the waning minutes, reaching the UCLA 3 with a trick play featuring receiver DeVonte Christopher throwing a 23-yard pass to Wilson.

Hays eventually hit Anderson, who stretched over the goal line for Utah's first offensive TD.

But Utah didn't try an onside kick, and Franklin picked up a first down with 2 minutes left. UCLA ran down the clock to 8 seconds before punting, and the Utes' last snap went nowhere.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Photos

Related links

Related stories

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

Sports
Greg Beacham

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast