UCLA vs. LSU Week 1: Social media reactions to the Bruins' primetime victory
Looking at the odds and the rankings, the Bruins' win over the Tigers on Saturday night was surely an upset.
But with multiple experts and outlets leaning towards UCLA football as the week went on, there was a building buzz around its game versus LSU. As it turns out, the Bruins had what it took to win, and now they're standing at 2-0 heading into their bye week.
The highlights came early and often Saturday starting with a 75-yard touchdown from quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson to tight end Greg Dulcich, and people were impressed with the athleticism of one of the nation's top tight ends.
The run game drew its fair share of attention as well.
Zach Charbonnet once again broke the 100-yard threshold after needing just six carries to do so against Hawaii in Week 0. He had a 43-yarder, a 20-yarder, a 17-yarder and a 12-yarder, the last of which went for a touchdown against LSU on Saturday.
The Michigan transfer finished the night with 117 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, and people were once again impressed by his efficiency and nose for big plays.
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson chipped in on the ground with 46 sack-adjusted rushing yards of his own, but he did most of his damage through the air.
From an early bomb to receiver Kazmeir Allen to big touchdowns to Dulcich, recevier Chase Cota and receiver Kyle Philips, Thompson-Robinson was dialed in on many of his biggest attempts. Still, he had a rough interception and took some sacks that he hasn't taken since his sophomore year.
Media members and fans alike were drawn to Thompson-Robinson's eclectic performance, but many realized the good heavily outweighed the bad for the must-watch player, who posted a career-high 242.1 passer rating on the night.
The defense may not have had as many highlight reel plays, but they too earned some good faith by holding LSU to 20 points before the start of garbage time and a total of 48 rushing yards by the time the clock hit all zeroes.
There were clear holes in the secondary all night, which was rightfully pointed out by some. But as was the case with the offense, the good outweighed the bad by a wide margin and the defense used its nose for the ball, hard hits and aggressive mentality to throw off Tigers quarterback Max Johnson.
The postgame reactions came flooding in before the game actually went final, and it wasn't pretty for LSU.
On the UCLA side of things, people rejoiced in the Bruins beating yet another SEC opponent and staking their claim of part of the pie on a national stage. It's only two games into the season, but that hasn't stopped people from extrapolating and looking ahead to what this could mean for UCLA and the Pac-12 moving forward.
A handful of players jumped on board the discussion as well, crediting the fans for showing up to outmatch the LSU crowd and notch an attendance mark of over 68,000.
That's a far cry from last game, so with more than twice as many fans in the stands, the Bruins made sure to put on their best performance in years.
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