UCLA Football vs. TAMU: Aggies dominate first half
UCLA Football was expected to even their home-and-home series with the Aggies. They came out sluggish and trail the Aggies 38-10 at halftime.
Rosen completed a pair of third down passes to take the Bruins into the red zone on the first drive of the game. The offense sputtered at that point and UCLA would settle for a field goal and their first lead of the game.
A 3-0 lead quickly became a 17-3 deficit. The Aggies marched down the field and found the endzone first on an untouched Keith Ford touchdown run. The Aggie defense stepped up after that, forcing a Josh Rosen fumble and then Bolu Olorunfunmi put the ball on the ground on the next drive. That resulted in 10 more Aggie points and things started to get uncomfortable at the Rose Bowl.
Before the halftime whistle Texas A&M had extended their lead to 24-3.
Three key stats
- 188 – Rushing yards by Texas A&M’s Trayveon Williams
- 2 – Turnovers by UCLA
- 5 – Rushing touchdowns by Texas A&M
UCLA adjustments
Josh Rosen is getting overwhelmed in the pocket. The offensive line has some work to do, but that will take more than a pep talk. The Bruins need bring another blocker inside and find a way to get the run game going. Rosen will have more success on third downs if it’s third and three instead of third and nine.
Texas A&M adjustments
Keep doing what you’re doing. The Aggies have been running at will against the Bruins so far. Watch for Kevin Sumlin to mix in a bomb off play action in the second half to put the Bruins away. We haven’t seen Nick Starkel air it out yet.
Next: 2017 UCLA football game-by-game predictions
Outlook
UCLA looks timid and confused, but they did trail the Aggies in last year’s contest too. Josh Rosen settled down in that one and pulled the Bruins even. He’s not going to get shut out tonight, but the Bruins might be headed to their first loss of the season.