As the time ticked away in the first half of the LA Bowl, UCLA football found itself down 16-7 and the Chip Kelly era felt like it was going to come to a close quicker than expected.
Boise State was controlling the game against the Bruins which is just unacceptable this far into the Kelly era, no matter what stakes are on the like. Obviously in the LA Bowl, there's really nothing to play for other than pride but the Bruins didn't look like they had any through 30 minutes.
And then something clicked.
The second half was all UCLA as the Bruins went on a 28-6 run to end the game, beating a Boise State team that didn't have its head coach after firing him mid-season. This was the expected outcome from anyone who followed college football this year, it just took a little longer than anticipated.
Kelly's hot seat cooled off in a hurry and all the talk about the program moving on from the head coach ceased, even with former five-star Dante Moore in the portal, eventually heading back to Oregon where he was originally committed. It felt like Kelly earned himself another year.
And obviously, he hasn't been fired and there doesn't seem to be a world in which that happens at this point. The LA Bowl saved his job, and he has likely one more year to figure it out.
Unfortunately, he'll have to do it without Moore who he expected to be the future of the program.