It’s been a season of ups and downs for UCLA football.
The Bruins started out the year with a bang, earning a 36-point win over defending Pac-12 South champion Arizona in the conference opener. The team followed that up with consecutive losses to Arizona State and Stanford. After that, UCLA won three straight to get back in the race before dropping a hard-fought contest to Washington State last week.
Of course, Saturday’s victory over Utah might have been the best moment of the season. Thanks to the win over the Utes — who had a seemingly insurmountable two-game lead earlier in the year — the Bruins now control their own destiny in the division race. All UCLA needs to do is defeat crosstown rival USC next week, and it will return to the Pac-12 title game for the third time in the last five years.
Make no mistake about it: the Bruin defense was the difference maker in the contest. It set the tone for the game early on, forcing a fumble on the first drive that prevented Utah from tying things up at 7. Despite giving up some yardage after that, the UCLA defense still managed to get the job done, keeping Utah out of the end zone, allowing just two fields goals heading into the half.
Then, it took control of the contest. After Utah’s initial drive of the second half resulted in three points — it bogged down inside the 5 — the Bruin defense dominated the game. Over the next four possessions, UCLA forced four consecutive three-and-outs, allowing a total of four yards during that span. While the Utes were able to move the ball on their final drive of the game, the Bruin defense came up with a fumble recovery which sealed the victory with just over a minute left.
So, what does the victory mean in the grand scheme of things?
The most obvious takeaway (as I mentioned earlier) is that it opens the door for the Bruins to win the division and possibly the Pac-12 championship. Although the latter part of that seems like a stretch, its worth noting that UCLA’s opponent would likely be the Stanford. While the Cardinal would be favored in that contest, rematches tend to favor the team that lost the initial encounter. That certainly was the case last year, when Oregon avenged its regular season loss to Arizona in the league title game.
As for the Utes, it’s time to start thinking about what they’re going to do on offense next season. Sure, Devontae Booker was out of the lineup this week and most of last week, but the fact of the matter is that Utah’s offense could not score points against defenses that were completely decimated by injuries. These struggles on offense — which have been a problem ever since Andy Ludwig’s departure at the end of the 2008-’09 campaign — must be addressed if the Utes are going to compete for a Pac-12 championship.
