UCLA vs. Arizona Week 11: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
No. 12 UCLA football (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) is playing Arizona (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) in Week 11 of the 2022 college football season, with the Bruins looking to remain in the race for the conference title and College Football Playoff.
Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.
FINAL: Arizona 34, UCLA 28
11:00 p.m.: The Bruins had a few decent shots at the end zone down the stretch, but they could not convert to pull off the late comeback.
All Bruins' full story on the loss can be found HERE.
More failed stops lead to Wildcats going back ahead
10:36 p.m.: Arizona opened things up with a 48-yard pass to a wide open Dorian Singer over the middle, and while it looked like UCLA could improve their fortunes from there, they couldn't hold the Wildcats out of the end zone.
Edge rusher Gabriel Murphy got a big sack that eventually led to a 3rd-and-18 for Arizona. Three Bruins had a chance to sack de Laura on that third down play, but he scrambled and gained 14.
Fisch called a timeout and sent his offense back out there, and de Laura sat in the pocket before sending one 17 yards downfield to receiver Tetairoa McMillan for the touchdown.
Arizona leads UCLA 31-28 with 6:34 to go in the fourth. Both teams have two timeouts.
Charbonnet gives the Bruins their first lead
10:21 p.m.: Thankfully for UCLA, edge rusher Grayson Murphy came through with a sack in the red zone, but Arizona still hit a 35-yard field goal to retake the lead.
That turned out to be short-lived, as the Bruins marched down the field to go ahead, led by Charbonnet.
The running back opened things up with a 12-yard gain, then he picked up 6 to convert on a 4th-and-3 near midfield. After Thompson-Robinson got sacked for a 12-yard loss, Charbonnet made up for that and then some when he ran 36 yards down the right side to set his team up in the red zone.
Charbonnet punched it in from 5 yards out, and UCLA leads Arizona 28-24 with 10:22 left in regulation.
UCLA manages to tie it up
9:58 p.m.: The Bruins needed to pick up a first down.
They were facing a 4th-and-5 at Arizona's 44-yard line after Thompson-Robinson took a sack on third down. The quarterback found Jake Bobo in the slot, with the two connecting for a 23-yard gain.
Colson Yankoff took a few carries up the middle to get UCLA deeper into the red zone, but he tripped himself up and went down at the 1 on 1st-and-goal. Charbonnet got stuffed by his own offensive line on second down.
On third down, Thompson-Robinson nearly bobbled the snap, and he held onto the exchange a little longer than usual as Charbonnet ripped it away from him and scampered into the end zone.
UCLA tied it up 21-21 following the extra point, resetting the game with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
Nightmare start to the second half for the Bruins
9:42 p.m.: For a moment, it looked like UCLA had come out read to blow Arizona out of the water in the final 30 minutes. A moment later, the tables had turned.
The Bruins made it down to the Wildcats' 21-yard line without facing a third down, with Thompson-Robinson and Charbonnet again doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Thompson-Robinson kept it on back-to-back plays for back-to-back losses, though, and they were all of a sudden facing a 3rd-and-16.
Thompson-Robinson had to roll out to his right to avoid the sack, and right before he got drilled from behind, he threw one to receiver Jake Bobo, who was unable to reel it in in traffic.
Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira came out for the 45-yard try, but it was blocked by UCLA transfer Tia Savea.
HALFTIME: Arizona 21, UCLA 14
9:15 p.m.: The Bruins had a chance to even up the score before heading into the locker room, but they could not get out of their own way.
A conversion on 4th-and-2 by Charbonnet was wiped out by an illegal formation. A conversion on a 4th-and-7 by Thompson-Robinson was ruled as a fumble on the field, and even if the replay review had reversed it, center Duke Clemens was called for a hold and it would have been 4th-and-17.
The call stood – even though Thompson-Robinson was pretty clearly down – and the Wildcats ran out the clock to close the half with a lead.
TOTAL YARDS: UCLA 252, Arizona 244
PASS YARDS: Arizona 158, UCLA 119
RUSH YARDS: UCLA 133, Arizona 86
FIRST DOWNS: Arizona 14, UCLA 12
PASSING LEADERS
D. Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 15-of-19, 119 yards, 1 TD
J. de Laura (ARI): 13-of-15, 161 yards, 1 TD
RUSHING LEADERS
Z. Charbonnet (UCLA): 11 carries, 94 yards, 1 TD
M. Wiley (ARI): 10 carries, 53 yards, 1 TD
RECEIVING LEADERS
H. Habermehl (UCLA): 2 receptions, 58 yards, 1 TD
J. Cowing (ARI): 5 receptions, 65 yards
UCLA's defense getting beat every which way
8:56 p.m.: Maybe it's because defensive coordinator Bill McGovern is out for the third consecutive game with an illness, maybe it's a matchup problem or maybe Arizona coach Jedd Fisch drew up the perfect game plan.
Whatever the reason, the Bruins are providing no resistance with their defense.
The Wildcats drove 75 yards in 10 plays to take the lead right back, converting a 3rd-and-4 with a 28-yard pass and then converting a 3rd-and-goal with a short touchdown. Coming out of a timeout, UCLA brought the house on the last play, but de Laura evaded the pressure and squeezed up the middle for the 3-yard score.
That put Arizona up 21-14 with 2:01 left until halftime.
De Laura has completed 13-of-15 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown – good for a 198.8 passer rating – in addition to 2 yards and a score on four carries.
Big plays help Bruins knot up the score
8:45 p.m.: And just like that, the score is evened up.
UCLA's pass rush finally started getting to de Laura, forcing incompletions and even wrapping him up on a sack by defensive lineman Jay Toia. Arizona had been marching again up until that stretch of intense pressure, but they had to give up and punt after the big loss.
The punt pinned the Bruins at the 1, right in the shadow of their own end zone.
Thompson-Robinson completed a quick pass to receiving Logan Loya, then scrambled for a first down on the next play. Charbonnet came through with a 37-yard gain to bring UCLA all the way to the 49-yard line, immediately erasing their poor field position.
That's when Thompson-Robinson dropped back and found tight end Hudson Habermehl open in the seam up the middle. Habermehl was sandwiched upon catching the ball, but the shook off both hits and stayed up before running for the 51-yard touchdown.
UCLA and Arizona are now tied 14-14 with 8:11 remaining until halftime.
Thompson-Robinson has completed 9-of-10 passes for 86 yards and a score – good for a 195.2 passer rating – in addition to 19 yards on four carries on the ground.
Charbonnet gets UCLA on the board
8:30 p.m.: The Bruins needed to score some points, and that's exactly what they did.
Charbonnet, who got the start and appears to be a full-go health-wise, got a touch on the first four plays of UCLA's next drive after going down 14-0. He was able to get the Bruins all the way to midfield, and then a keeper by quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson went 11 yards before he slipped.
The biggest play of the possession wound up being a 20-yard completion to receiver Kam Brown, who took UCLA down inside the 5. Thompson-Robinson very nearly wiped that out with a fumble trying to roll out to his right, but he fell on it and an offsides on Arizona kept it at first down regardless.
Charbonnet got a few tries on the goal line, and he punched it in from 1 yard out to make it a 14-7 ballgame early in the second quarter.
The former Michigan transfer is over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, and he is on pace for another big performance Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
De Laura torches Bruins secondary to extend lead
8:14 p.m.: UCLA is in a serious hole early.
Arizona is essentially getting whatever it wants on offense, starting its last drive with a 12-yard pass. A 13-yard rush got the Wildcats into field goal range, then a 19-yard pass by quarterback Jayden de Laura kept the ball rolling.
The Washington State transfer nearly blew things up on an unforced error, fumbling the ball while winding up to pass, but he recovered. That set Arizona up with a 3rd-and-18 at the UCLA 22, and they nearly got pushed back even more when the pass rush flushed de Laura out of the pocket.
The quarterback rolled out to his right and evaded the pressure, though, before delivering a strike to a wide open Wiley at the sticks. Wiley squeezed into the end zone, and Arizona went up 14-0 with 3:50 left to play in the first quarter.
Wildcats open the scoring after surprise punts
8:02 p.m.: Many expected this to be a high-scoring game coming in, given that both offenses have been incredibly productive and neither defense has been particularly strong.
Well, after UCLA deferred on the opening coin toss, Arizona punted on its first drive of the night. The Bruins then went 3-and-out and handed the ball right back.
The Wildcats then worked their way down the field, making into UCLA territory in just three plays. The one third down they faced was a 3rd-and-1, and they converted on an 18 yard run to the right.
Running back Michael Wiley then took a forward handoff on a fake end-around, which he took 10 yards into the end zone.
To make matters worse, UCLA punted right after they got the ball back, and Arizona is once again in control as the first quarter winds down.
The Wildcats are currently up 7-0 with 5:00 left in the opening frame.
Zach Charbonnet suited up, warming up
7:10 p.m.: Take this update with a grain of salt, considering UCLA's star running back was dressed but did not play against Arizona State last week, but Charbonnet does look like he will be able to play against Arizona.
Unlike last week, though, Charbonnet is participating in pregame drills, taking handoffs and catching passes.
Charbonnet is leading the nation in yards per carry this season with 7.53 while ranking third in rushing yards per game with 137.7. If it weren't for him missing the Bruins' games against Alabama State and Arizona State, he could have had the stats to challenge for a Heisman finalist spot.
UCLA rushed for 402 yards without him a week ago, but his return would be welcome against Arizona on Saturday night.
Setting the stage for Pac-12 After Dark
7:01 p.m.: The Bruins are once again stuck in the late-night time slot, which means most of the action across the country is already complete.
Should UCLA win, they are almost guaranteed to move up at least one spot thanks to No. 9 Alabama beating No. 11 Ole Miss in Oxford. The Rebels are the only team above the Bruins to fall so far on Saturday, though, so the movement up the College Football Playoff rankings may be limited again.
Of course, No. 6 Oregon still hasn't closed things out against No. 25 Washington, with the Ducks leading 31-27 midway through the fourth quarter. Oregon winning would further boost UCLA's strength of schedule, and it would increase the chances of the two teams rematching in the Pac-12 championship game.
No. 4 TCU also leads No. 18 Texas 10-3 in the third quarter down in Austin. The Longhorns coming back to upset the Horned Frogs would opened the door even wider for a one-loss Pac-12 champion to make the top four by year's end.
If the Bruins want to be that team, they need to start by beating the Wildcats at the Rose Bowl on Saturday. UCLA enters the contest as a 20-point favorite.
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