Colorado
3-6 , 1-5
UCLA
4-5 , 4-2
Slow Start Dooms Buffs At UCLA
November 02, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
PASADENA, Calif. — A slow start doomed Colorado here Saturday, as UCLA jumped out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead and the Buffaloes never recovered, dropping a 31-14 decision at the Rose Bowl.
CU's fifth straight loss dropped the Buffs to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in Pac-12 play while the Bruins improved to 4-5, 4-2.
CU's offense struggled for much of the night. Quarterback Steven Montez was 21-for-138 for 195 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Playing without starting running back Alex Fontenot (out with an injury), CU finished with just 88 yards rushing, led by freshman Jaren Mangham's 77 yards on 17 carries.Â
The Bruins finished with a 426-283 edge in total yards, including a 201-20 margin in the first quarter. The 283 yards was a season low for Colorado.
UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson was 21-for-28 for 226 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Joshua Kelley ran for 126 yards and two scores.
"We started off way, way too slow," CU coach Mel Tucker said. "Offensively we weren't able to get anything done on our first several drives. Once we decided we were going to play we were able to move the ball and score. That's what we thought we'd be able to do coming into the game. But we weren't able to finish drives on a consistent basis."
HOW IT HAPPENED: After spotting the Bruins a 17-0 lead on UCLA's first three possessions, including a touchdown after an interception of Montez, the Buffs finally got on the board with an 83-yard touchdown drive.
The big play of the drive was a 16-yard Montez completion to Brady Russell, with a 15-yard late hit penalty on the play putting CU at the UCLA 27-line. Mangham, who had 32 yards rushing on the drive, then ran for 16 yards before Montez scored from 2 yards out to cut UCLA's lead to 17-7 with 8:42 to go in the second quarter.
CU's defense then came up with consecutive stops, but the Buffs' offense couldn't capitalize. Colorado drove into UCLA territory in the final minute of the half, but the drive stalled at the Bruins 30 and a James Stefanou 47-yard field goal try went wide left to send CU into the locker room trailing 17-7 at intermission.
Those first 17 UCLA points proved to be too much for Colorado to overcome, especially with the offense struggling to finish drives.
"I was very disappointed in that," Tucker said of the Bruins' early production. "There's no excuse for that. I'm extremely disappointed in not being able to come out and get stops right away against these guys."
The Buffs then missed another chance to add to their point total early in the third quarter. After linebacker Carson Wells came up with an interception in UCLA territory, the Buffs moved 28 yards to the Bruins' 8-yard line before settling for a 27-yard Stefanou field goal try. But the attempt bounced off the right upright, leaving CU's deficit at 10 points, 17-7.
The Bruins then put the game away for all intents and purposes on the ensuing possession. UCLA drove 80 yards in 11 plays, getting a Josh Kelley 5-yard scoring run with 4:11 to go in the third quarter for a 24-7 lead.
Colorado did manage to close the deficit back to 10 late in the fourth quarter by driving 68 yards in six plays for a touchdown. Montez completed six passes on the drive, including an 18-yarder to Dimitri Stanley, before finishing the march with a 27-yard scoring toss to Tony Brown to narrow UCLA's lead to 24-14 with 5:57 still remaining.
But the Bruins quickly answered with a 48-yard drive in four plays after recovering an onside kick attempt, with Kelley scoring from 35 yards out to give UCLA a 31-14 edge with 4:14 to go.
Colorado had one more chance with the ball, but came up empty.
"We're going to stay the course," Tucker said. "I'm looking for guys that are going to compete, continue to fight, work to get better, do what we ask them to do. There's a lot of film study, a lot of corrections that need to be made. We have to have a really good week of practice. We're going to continue to look for guys that have the type of behavior on a consistent basis that we need to get this job done."
The Bruins scored on their first three possessions of the night to set the tone.
After a Colorado punt on the opening drive, UCLA went 57 yards for a score, getting a 16-yard scoring toss from Thompson-Robinson to Devin Asiasi.
The Bruins then added a field goal after another Colorado punt before CU's Montez was intercepted. UCLA needed just one play to bump its margin to 17-0, getting a 45-yard Thompson-Robinson touchdown pass to Ethan Fernea with 3:42 still to play in the first quarter.
TURNING POINT: Colorado had a chance to make it a one-score game in the third quarter following Wells' interception, but the Buffs missed a field goal. UCLA then drove for a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
NEXT UP: The Buffs return home next Saturday for a 1 p.m. game against Stanford at Folsom Field.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Team Stats
COLO 0, UCLA 7
UCLA - Asiasi, Devin 16 yd pass from Thmpsn-Robinson (Molson, JJ kick) 6 plays, 57 yards, TOP 2:32
COLO 0, UCLA 10
UCLA - Molson, JJ 28 yd field goal 12 plays, 74 yards, TOP 5:07
COLO 0, UCLA 17
UCLA - Fernea, Ethan 45 yd pass from Thmpsn-Robinson (Molson, JJ kick) 1 plays, 45 yards, TOP 0:09
COLO 7, UCLA 17
COLO - Montez, Steven 2 yd run (Stefanou, James kick), 12 plays, 83 yards, TOP 6:02
COLO 7, UCLA 24
UCLA - Kelley, Joshua 5 yd run (Molson, JJ kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:10
COLO 14, UCLA 24
COLO - Brown, Tony 27 yd pass from Montez, Steven (Price, Evan kick) 6 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:56
COLO 14, UCLA 31
UCLA - Kelley, Joshua 35 yd run (Molson, JJ kick), 4 plays, 48 yards, TOP 1:40
