Any individual ought to test with SoFi Stadium to see if it rescinded its provide.
In what might have been UCLA’s final sport on the Rose Bowl after 43 years of calling the place house, the Bruins unfurled the form of displaying that nobody would ever need to relive or put in a scrapbook, a lot much less market as a part of a future plan.
If this was goodbye, it was a tragic sendoff.
There have been misplaced fumbles, a laughably dangerous faux area objective that resulted in a landing for the opposite group and a dropped cross that most likely value UCLA its personal rating. And that was simply within the first half.
Including damage to insult, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava took a crunching hit that sidelined him late within the third quarter, ending his gritty return from a concussion that had pressured him to overlook his group’s final sport.
UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava passes within the first half in opposition to Washington on Saturday night time.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions)
There’s mercifully just one sport left for the Bruins this season after a 48-14 loss to Washington on Saturday night time led to a fast-emptying stadium, no fond farewells in retailer for the house followers amid an introduced crowd of 38,201 that was too depleted by sport’s finish to boo.
The location of UCLA’s subsequent house sport stays as large of an unknown as its subsequent head coach. Faculty officers have mentioned they’re nonetheless considering plans for the place the group will play sooner or later, although that call might be as much as a court docket to resolve given the Bruins have almost 20 years left on a Rose Bowl lease that doesn’t expire till the summer time of 2044.
It’s believed that if faculty officers have their approach, they’ll transfer to SoFi Stadium in time for his or her 2026 season opener. UCLA defensive again Cole Martin, a local of Pasadena, didn’t appear glad about the opportunity of abandoning the Rose Bowl as his house stadium.
“The Rose Bowl means so much to me,” mentioned Martin, whose interception within the second quarter was one among solely a handful of huge performs for the Bruins. “It makes me emotional occupied with it. It’s every part to me, for certain.”
Wherever the Bruins play subsequent season, they’ve a variety of enhancements to make. They regarded torpid in falling behind 34-0 on Saturday whereas making one mistake after one other on the best way to a fourth consecutive defeat.
“We simply couldn’t cease the bleeding, ?” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper mentioned.
By the point he entered the sport, there was little backup quarterback Luke Duncan might do besides make the ultimate rating barely extra palatable. He succeeded on that entrance, firing a 37-yard landing cross to Mikey Matthews late within the third quarter that helped UCLA (3-8 total, 3-5 Huge Ten) keep away from a shutout.
There was one other spotlight for the Bruins early within the fourth quarter when Kanye Clark pressured a fumble on Washington’s punt return, permitting Jamir Benjamin to choose up the ball and run 13 yards for a landing.
However make no mistake: This was full domination by the Huskies (8-3, 5-3), who rolled up 426 yards of offense whereas holding the Bruins to 207 yards, together with simply 57 yards dashing.
Washington alumnus and comic Joel McHale carried out a brief recorded bit that was proven on the scoreboard earlier than the sport, however the actual slapstick was about to return.
The Bruins coughed up two fumbles within the first half and would have misplaced a 3rd had the Huskies not been known as for defensive holding on the play, nullifying the turnover.
“Turnovers are at all times going to kill you,” Skipper mentioned, “so we’ve received to discover a approach to repair that as we get into subsequent week.”
UCLA quarterback Luke Duncan throws through the second half in opposition to Washington on Saturday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Occasions)
UCLA huge receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala dropped what might have been a landing cross on the Huskies’ 38-yard line with nothing however open area in entrance of him.
However there was no blunder fairly like what occurred when the Bruins lined up for a 46-yard area objective late within the second quarter. Holder Money Peterman took the snap and flipped the ball over his shoulder as kicker Mateen Bhaghani circled behind him, the ball hitting the turf as an alternative of Bhaghani’s arms.
Washington’s Alex McLaughlin picked up the ball and ran 59 yards for a landing that put the Huskies forward, 20-0.
Skipper mentioned the Huskies confirmed one look of their field-goal protection earlier than shifting out of it previous to the snap, inflicting chaos for the Bruins.
“The communication on our finish received all jacked up once they stemmed out of it,” Skipper mentioned, “so I’ll take the warmth for it — it was most likely too sophisticated, it was an excessive amount of communication and we miscommunicated and that’s what occurred.”
Issues by no means received appreciably higher, the Bruins left adrift and not using a haven in sight.
