UCLA football: 3 takeaways from tough loss at No. 11 Utah

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – SEPTEMBER 23: Carson Steele #33 of the UCLA Bruins rushes the ball agaisnt the Utah Utes during the first half of their game at Rice-Eccles Stadium September 23, 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images) /

2. The running game was unreliable

UCLA’s inability to run the ball was another detriment to Moore’s debut and another ill that can be blamed on the Bruin offensive line. The passing game may have struggled, but the running game was absolutely anemic.

On 32 carries Saturday. the Bruins gained just nine yards. Brutal.

It doesn’t get any better when factoring out sacks. Obviously, in college, those are counted as rushing attempts. When you take them out, UCLA gained just 60 yards on 22 carries. That’s 2.7 yards per tote.

The quarterback situations, both the absence of Utah’s Cam Rising, and the hype around Moore, got all the attention, but the biggest storyline of this game was the battle up front.

In that facet of the game, the Bruins were outmatched and outmanned all day long. The Utes were just far too physical for UCLA.

No matter how you slice it, this was an abysmal day on the ground for UCLA.

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