UCLA Football: Is it time to panic about Dorian Thompson-Robinson?

Dorian Thompson-Robinson had a forgettable season opener against Cincinnati, but is it time to panic about the UCLA football quarterback just yet?

If I could write an entire article by answering with just one word “yes”, I would. But that’s not why we’re here. Actually, we’re here to take a step back and not make a complete overreaction after one game.

Let’s face it, Dorian Thompson-Robinson was bad against Cincinnati on Thursday night. Nippert Stadiums seemed to play a major role in his struggles because of the electric atmosphere as well as the Cincinnati defense.

The Bearcats got after him all night, so you can’t put the full blame on him for his lackluster stat line, but he still made some questionable decisions. He was turning the ball over while not getting hit, throwing picks on ill-advised tosses down the field and making the wrong reads on RPOs. He was a deer in headlights all night long.

But we have to realize what kind of situation he was in. As mentioned before, his offensive line looked shaky, he was running for his life all night and he didn’t have 1,000-yard rusher Joshua Kelley behind him. He’s also in the first start of his second season on the road against one of the best Group of Five teams in the nation.

Thompson-Robinson looked really bad, completing about a third of his throws, but he did make some big plays that gave Bruins fans hope.

Is it time to panic about his poor play? Not just yet, but if this continues against worse defenses or even at home, then we can hit that button.

Chip Kelly has an uphill battle to climb this season and he’ll need his sophomore quarterback to step up and get his confidence back.