Thompson-Robinson, UCLA Football Hold Off Arizona State in Tempe

The trap had been set, and it looked like the Bruins were falling right into it.

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw an interception on the first play of the game. Running back Zach Charbonnet wasn’t playing. The Sun Devils’ offense, meanwhile, moved down the field with ease on their first few drives of the night.

Even after they had settled in and built a 24-point lead in the second half, the blue and gold nearly let it slip away.

Through it all, though, the Bruins still hung on to win.

No. 12 UCLA football (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) bested Arizona State (3-6, 2-4 Pac-12) by a score of 50-36, matching their best nine-game start since 2005 in the process. The Bruins scored 28 unanswered at one point, riding Thompson-Robinson’s resurgent performance to a big lead that helped them hold off the Sun Devils down the stretch.

After his first throw sailed over receiver Jake Bobo and into the arms of an Arizona State defender, the fifth-year signal-caller was as dynamic as he’s been in weeks – both through the air and on the ground.

Thompson-Robinson capped off the next drive with a 14-yard touchdown run, one that was highlighted by a signature hurdle into the end zone. That wasn’t even the only time Thompson-Robinson leapt over a defender on the night, either, as he did so again in the second quarter to set up another touchdown.

UCLA went up 14-10 late in the first quarter after Thompson-Robinson hit running back Keegan Jones on a wheel route for a 3-yard touchdown.

Each of the Bruins’ first two scores were set up by receiver Kazmeir Allen, who started at running back with Charbonnet unavailable. On the first touchdown drive, Allen took a shovel pass 34 yards for UCLA’s first first down of the game, and he picked up 42 yards on the next drive to tee up Jones’ receiving touchdown.

Jones made it into the end zone again two drives later, rushing in from 10 yards out, but he wouldn’t have been in that spot if it weren’t for another Thompson-Robinson highlight.

The quarterback hurdled yet another defender to pick up a first down, then reversed fields, juked out one Sun Devil, spun out of the arms of another, used his hand to stay up and then finally go down 33 yards later.

Arizona State finally got to Thompson-Robinson for a pair of sacks on the next drive, but the Bruins still marched 90 yards for yet another touchdown before halftime. Thompson-Robinson rushed for a 4-yard touchdown to open up the second half, and UCLA led 35-10.

Just as the Sun Devils finally got back on the board with a touchdown and two-point conversion midway through the third, Allen answered with a 75-yard touchdown run on the first play of the next drive.

Without Charbonnet taking a snap, the Bruins got all the ground production they needed out of Thompson-Robinson, Allen and Jones – as well as quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-running back Colson Yankoff. The quartet combined for 402 yards and five touchdowns on 9.6 yards per carry, torching an Arizona State run defense that had been on an upswing over the past few weeks.

Thompson-Robinson completed 13-of-20 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns on the night, boasting a 177.9 passer rating after his game-opening interception. He also added a career-high 120 yards and two touchdowns on the ground – both his highest-volume and most efficient rushing game all season.

Thanks to his 289 total yards, Thompson-Robinson passed Cade McNown for second on UCLA’s all-time career total yards leaderboard with 11,301.

The performance went beyond the numbers, records and hurdles, too, as Thompson-Robinson was smiling, laughing, pointing at defenders and talking trash all throughout one of the more dominant and game-breaking outings of his five years in Westwood.

The offense may have had its most explosive game of the season, but the defense had a much more up-and-down night.

The Bruins were once again without defensive coordinator Bill McGovern, who missed his second consecutive game with an illness. McGovern had returned to team facilities in Westwood for practice this week, but was not up in the box Saturday night.

Without McGovern, UCLA allowed 10 points and 108 yards on Arizona State’s first two drives of the night. Over the next five drives, however, the Sun Devils didn’t score a single point, all while the Bruins surged ahead on the other side of the ball.

UCLA held Arizona State to 57 yards on 21 plays in that span.

The Sun Devils rebounded to make it a game late, capitalizing on a botched exchange fumble and three-and-out by the Bruins in the fourth quarter. Interim coach Shaun Aguano kept going for two-point conversions as well, and he cut the Bruins' lead all the way down to six points by scoring 26 points in four drives.

Walk-on quarterback Trenton Bourguet racked up 349 yards on 38 completions, while four Sun Devils rushed for more than 60 yards.

Yankoff helped ice things with a 1-yard touchdown with 2:30 to go, though, and cornerback Jaylin Davies picked off Bourguet in the end zone to wrap things up for good. Those two plays helped the Bruins improve to 26-26 under coach Chip Kelly – the first time they've reached .500 in his five-year tenure.

UCLA will return home for a matchup with Arizona on Nov. 12, their final game before the hotly-anticipated rivalry showdown with No. 9 USC on Nov. 19.

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