Brett Hundley Injured as UCLA Escapes Again

UCLA Beats Texas 20-17

Player of the Game: Jerry Neuheisel-23/30 for 178 yards, 2 touchdowns

The UCLA bruins had to escape for the third straight week, but this time they have an excuse with quarterback Brett Hundley injured early. And they were playing Texas at Jerry World.

But the only Jerry making headlines on the field Saturday night was Hundley’s backup, Jerry Neuheisel. Neuheisel stepped in and managed the offense very well. He also showed he is very clutch.

Each time Texas got a lead, Neuheisel lead a response with the offense. He had a 33-yard touchdown pass with 3 minutes left in what sealed the game for the Bruins 17-13. This was the night of the underdog on the favored team.

Neuheisel obviously is not Hundley. He will not be the full-time starter going forward, and Hundley’s expected to be back. But for this one night, with the Bruins desperately trying to hold onto their playoff hopes, he kept them alive. This is also a credit to Jim Mora, who clearly can coach quarterbacks.

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Texas, meanwhile, showed lots of improvement over last week’s loss to BYU. But maybe that has something to do with the fact that BYU is great. Tyrone Swoopes once again showed he can play as he went 24 of 34 for 196 yards and 2 touchdowns, but what’s questionable is why Malcolm Brown and Jonathan Gray weren’t used more out of the backfield.

UCLA was playing with a backup quarterback, Texas should be able to use its pretty good run game to control the clock and force him into tough mistakes.

Of course, it’s worth noting Neuheisel did come through when he was called upon.

Still, the Longhorns at least appear to be getting better under Charlie Strong as they adjust to his new tough, disciplinarian style of football.

But for right now, Texas is definitely the No. 2 team in the state. No. 1 belongs to that gadget program over in College Station that Strong doesn’t want to recognize.