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UCLA Bruins @ Texas Longhorns Football Recap

UCLA 34, Texas 12

Nobody saw this coming… probably not even the UCLA Bruins themselves.

In what was easily the most shocking upset of week four that involved top 25 teams, UCLA went on the road to Austin and beat the Texas Longhorns... badly. It was an upset that virtually no one in the college football world anticipated. UCLA hardly had any momentum coming into the game. The Bruins opened with a loss to Kansas State and then were dominated at home by Stanford. Their win over Houston was made a heck of a lot easier by the fact that Houston lost its top two starting quarterbacks in that one game, a 31-13 UCLA win.

Texas, on the other hand, seemed to have reloaded yet again. Replacing legendary players like Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley, the Longhorns came out of the gate 3-0 with tune-up wins over Rice and Wyoming before getting a win in their conference opener at Texas Tech. In a complete reversal of season momentum, the Bruins capitalized on the Longhorns’ mistakes and sent shockwaves through the college football world.

UCLA’s foray into the pistol offense had been less than stellar entering this tilt. On Saturday, the pistol provided just enough firepower to put the Longhorns away for good. The Bruins ran the ball an eye-popping 56 times for 265 yards, compared to just nine passing attempts that generated just 26 yards. But when the Bruins did go to the air, they made the most of it from a production-based standpoint. UCLA notched an early touchdown pass on a 1-yard flip from quarterback Kevin Prince to Ricky Marvray. While the Bruins’ offense produced at a below-pedestrian level in the first half, the Bruins’ defense put in a heroic effort, forcing four first-half turnovers. The wave of takeaways for the visitors from Westwood helped build an insurmountable lead, and it repeatedly gave the Bruins a short field. For an offense struggling to get things going, it was just what the doctor ordered.

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Texas now finds itself facing numerous issues as Big 12 play begins. For starters, the Longhorns have yet to establish an offensive identity in the post-McCoy era.  Previously, Texas could count on spreading a defense out and McCoy picking it apart through the air. Now the Longhorns are unsure and appear uncomfortable with what the real goal of the offense is. They’d like to be more physical and more deliberate with their running game, but this desire doesn’t seem to fit with their personnel and the plethora of turnovers would indicate this is the case. With four lost fumbles costing them a home game against an inferior opponent, the Longhorns must solve their issues with ball security heading into their battle with hated rival Oklahoma. If they cannot score points and protect the ball, the Sooners will surely end their losing streak to Texas.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer