Ka’Deem Carey runs in the second quarter. Photo by Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports
It’s over. UCLA hangs on to win 31-26, dropping Arizona to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the Pac-12, two games behind ASU in the South.
Lots happening in the game, from the dual-threat skills of UCLA linebacker/running back Myles Jack, to Ka’Deem Carey’s fumble into the end zone, to Arizona’s resilience, fighting from behind the entire game. And, oh yeah, UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley was darn good, too.
Carey finished with 149 yards on 28 carries. Nate Phillips had eight catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns for the Cats.
Jack had eight tackles, broke up two passes and recovered Carey’s fumble in the end zone. Hundley was 18 of 25 for 227 yards, and he ran for 56 yards.
Arizona plays Washington State next week at Arizona Stadium.
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And that should do it.
Arizona can’t muster late-game magic, as B.J. Denker is intercepted by Ishmael Adams at the UA 23 on fourth-and-7.
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The defense comes through for Arizona, sacking a scrambling Hundley on third-and-4 from the UA 47 as UCLA went to it’s four-man backfield. Cats take over at their 12 with 2:33 to go.
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Should Arizona have gone for it on third-and-4 from its 34? Cats have to start burning timeouts under three minutes as UCLA has gained a couple of first downs.
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Needed: One more defensive stand. Arizona punts with 5:05 to go. UCLA will take over at its 15.
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Defensive stop for Arizona. Cats going to get the ball back with chance to take lead, 6:06 to go.
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This has turned into a fun game, and the Wildcats aren’t going away. Nate Phillips scores again, this time on a 14-yard reception, doing a sideline dance to stay in bounds and worm into the end zone. Arizona gets within 31-26 with 8:02 left.
Hmmmm.. Is Myles Jack all worn out by now?
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And now there is only one storyline from this game. Myles Jack. Or as UA fans will call him, Myles (Bleepin’) Jack.
The UCLA true freshman linebacker, who had not taken a snap at running back in college, goes 66 yards for a touchdown on third-and-1 with 10:46 to go. He has incredible speed and broke a couple of would-be tackles along the sideline.
He has six carries for 120 yards. Wow.
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How big is that pass interference call now? Arizona goes 88 yards for a TD, helped by runs of 22 and 24 yards by Ka’Deem Carey and capped by a pretty third-down pass from B.J. Denker.
On third-and-3, he fires into the end zone for Nate Phillips, who makes an over-the-shoulder haul for a 15-yard score. He has scored a TD in five consecutive games.
The two-point conversion fails, so it’s 24-19 UCLA with 11:46 to go.
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B.J. Denker gets bailed out on an interception as UCLA is flagged for pass interference on a third-and-13 play. Drive alive … and drama remains.
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Ka’Deem Carey goes over 100 yards for the 12th consecutive game with a 22-yard run early in the fourth quarter.
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End of third quarter. UCLA 24, Arizona 13.
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Arizona dismayed over a replay reversal. The Cats appeared to have recovered another fumble with 1:53 left in the quarter, with Tra’Mayne Bondurant stripping WR Devin Lucien and Marquis Flowers falling on it.
After a lengthy delay, officials overturn the call, saying Lucien’s knee was down before the ball came loose. So, it becomes a 28-yard gain to the Bruins 40.
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The Arizona defense has answered the offense’s lost fumble by getting one of its own. Defensive tackle Tevin Hood forces a fumble from Damien Thigpen, with linebacker Marquis Flowers coming out of the scrum with the ball at the UCLA 28 with 4:15 to go in the third quarter.
The ensuing drive ends in another red-zone missed opportunity for the Cats, however (to go along with fourth-down stop early in the game and Ka’Deem Carey’s fumble into the end zone).
Arizona has third-and-1 from the 4, but B.J. Denker looks like he makes a bad read and gets body slammed for a loss of 6. UA takes a 27-yard field goal to cut the lead to 24-13.
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Huge momentum swing as Arizona is about to right back in the game. Ka’Deem Carey takes a handoff from the 5, gets hits and nearly flips into the end zone before a another hit knocks the ball loose. Carey, going head over heels, kicks the ball inadvertently toward the back of the end zone, where Myles Jack — he’s everywhere — recovers for the touchback at 6:13 to go in the third quarter.
The Cats were about to make it a 7-point game.
Arizona forces a three-and-out after UCLA takes over, so at least the problem won’t be compounded.
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It’s not too early to say Arizona needed a stop at the beginning of the second half, and the Cats split the difference. They hold UCLA out of the end zone but the Bruins convert a 34-yard field goal with 10:30 to go in the quarter. It’s a two-score game at 24-10 … not too bad, if the Cats counter quickly.
Shaq Evans continues to be a major pest, with four catches for 97 yards.
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UCLA freshman Myles Jack using Saturday night on ESPN as his launch party, as the linebacker does double-duty at running back in a stacked four-man backfield.
His running helps the Bruins march 90 yards at the end of the first half, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Shaq Evans, who grabs a pass tipped by Jonathan McKnight and drags a toe at the back of the end zone with 16 seconds left.
UCLA silences the crowd and goes into the break up 21-10 … and it gets the ball to start the second half.
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The Arizona defense has responded after giving up touchdown drives on UCLA’s first two possessions. The Bruins next four drives have resulted in 28 yards and no points, with the Wildcats getting pressure on Brett Hundley.
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Second sack of Brett Hundley, on third-and-10 from the Arizona 37, forces UCLA to punt. Arizona has gained momentum, all stemming from UCLA’s fake punt attempt.
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UCLA freshman Myles Jack is stupidly talented. He comes into the game on third-and-1, takes a handoff, bounces a run outside, sheds a tackler and goes 29 yards.
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Arizona finally corrals Brett Hundley for a third-down sack and then gets a gift, as UCLA tries a fake punt on fourth-and-8 from its 25. Punter Sean Covington misses a wide-open receiver on a play that would have been called back anyway because of penalty.
As it is, UA takes over at the 25 and then punches it in on a 4-yard touchdown run that was classic Ka’Deem Carey. He took a hit up the middle, spun out of the tackle, kept moving his legs, spun again and twisted into the end zone.
Arizona is right back in business, thanks to the fake punt, and is down 14-10 with 12:55 to go in the second quarter.
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Ka’Deem Carey has 11 carries for 41 yards in the first quarter; he had 54 yards for the whole game against UCLA last season. The key thing for Carey and Arizona is to stay in touch score-wise with the Bruins here. Carey’s opportunities dwindled last season when UCLA rolled.
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B.J. Denker showing a little of the early season panic and is flirting with an INT in his past few throws. Arizona needed to get something going but instead has to punt in the final seconds of the quarter.
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Brett Hundley is dominating the first quarter. UCLA’s second TD drive of the game was just about all Hundley, including a 17-yard scramble, a 15-yard pass on third-and-14 as he bought time with his feet and a a 15-yard tackle-shredding TD run.
UCLA is up 14-3 with 1:23 to go in the first quarter and, news flash, Brett Hundley is really good.
He is 6 of 6 for 95 yards, with 32 yards rushing.
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UCLA makes the first big defensive play of the game, stopping Arizona, which had third-and-2 in the red zone. A pitch to Daniel Jenkins was stopped inches short (maybe an inch) and then the Bruins stuffed Ka’Deem Carey on fourth down on a read-option play in which B.J. Denker should have kept the ball.
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Arizona’s pass defense is rated No. 1 in the conference in terms of yards allowed, which is weird, because the Cats have been given up a lot of long plays. Like this one: 66 yards down the sideline to Shaq Evans on UCLA’s first play of the game.
Arizona cornerback Jonathan McKnight was beaten off the line by Evans, who had about a 5-yard cushion as Brett Hundley put the ball on the mark.
UCLA is up 7-3 with 10:41 to go in the quarter.
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Jake Smith, who hit a 53-yard field goal last week, is growing in confidence and, more importantly, accuracy. He gets the scoring started with a 44-yard field goal after a 12-play drive that featured a lot of Ka’Deem Carey (six carries, 17 yards).
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UCLA wins the toss and defers, and away we go …
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UCLA’s leading rusher, Jordon James, is not even on the trip as he is recovering from an ankle injury. UCLA will have Damien Thigpen in the backfield; he has missed a few games this season.
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Dick Tomey with Brandon Sanders before the game.
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Arizona is wearing blue helmets, red jerseys and blue pants. TucsonCitizen.com blogger Scott Terrell reports that Arizona used the blue-red-blue combo for homecoming wins over ranked teams in 2005 and 2006.
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Arizona’s 1993 team — the one that beat Miami in the Fiesta Bowl — is one of the team’s being honored at homecoming. Coach Dick Tomey is in the house tonight, as as Chuck Levy, Warner Smith, Gary Taylor (or his twin, Cary, I’m not sure), Richard Dice, Tony Bouie, Chris Lopez, Brandon Sanders and many more.
I can report that everyone was having a very good time at the tailgate.
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Arizona doesn’t have the talent to overwhelm teams, but the Cats have tilted games to their favor by winning the turnover battle.
The Wildcats are tied for 22nd nationally in turnover margin (plus 0.8 per game), and have lost only eight turnovers, tied for the sixth-best mark in the country heading into this week’s game.
Quarterback B.J Denker has been intercepted just three times in 234 pass attempts.
“He’s been smart with the ball,” coach Rich Rodriguez said. “He’s taken care of it and is not just throwing it into a crowd the last couple of weeks.”
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UCLA began the week favored by a point or two, but the bettors pushed the line the other way. A few hours before kickoff, Arizona was favored from one to two points, depending on where you look.
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Rodriguez is not a fan of the 8 p.m. kickoff. “As a coach, I would rather wake up, play, have a good game and watch somebody else suffer at night,” he said.
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UCLA is last nationally in penalties (9.38 per game) and penalty yards (80.63 per game).
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Here is some more pregame stuff from an early morning notebook…
PREDICTION
Arizona is 4-2 in Pac-12 games with Denker at quarterback, including last season’s contest against Colorado. The combined league record of the teams the Wildcats defeated: 2-23.
UCLA is not like any of those teams.
Arizona has done what it was supposed to do this season, checking off victories against inferior teams, getting all the way to 6-2. Nothing wrong with that, but there’s no evidence yet that UA is ready to knock off a team that comfortably fits into the top half of the Pac-12.
The Bruins are flawed — three true freshman starters on the offensive line is a huge red flag — but they have the better overall collection of players and a first-round talent at quarterback.
UCLA 35, Arizona 31.
PREGAME LINKS
The five biggest home games in Arizona history
Evaluating Ka’Deem Carey and the Heisman Trophy
Arizona wary of UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley
Q&A with Arizona’s B.J. Denker: On UCLA’s defense, setting records, criticism
Greg Hansen’s Mr. Football column at the Arizona Daily Star
Steve Rivera: Last meeting with UCLA always on LB Hank Hobson’s mind
Los Angeles Times: Bruins have had tough times in Tucson