UCLA vs. Colorado Week 4: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
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UCLA football (3-0) is playing Colorado (0-3) in Week 4 of the 2022 college football season, giving the Bruins a chance to break their three-game losing streak in Boulder.
Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.
Key offensive lineman goes down with injury
2:01 p.m.: The Bruins punted and pinned the Buffaloes back at their own 15, but they may have suffered a significant loss on the ultimately meaningless drive.
UCLA has started rotating in its bench players after going up by four touchdowns, but the entire starting offensive line remained in the game. Right guard Jon Gaines II had several players land on his lower body after a short running play, and the training staff had to come out on the field to tend to his left leg.
Gaines left the field under his own power, but both he and center Duke Clemens looked visibly frustrated after the play.
Colorado fans fed up with Bruin blowout
1:47 p.m.: On the first play of the fourth quarter, Yankoff hauled in his second touchdown catch of the day, this one coming from 3 yards out. UCLA only needed to go 39 yards after Carl Jones Jr.'s interception, and they needed just five plays to do so.
When backup kicker Joseph Firebaugh Jr. came in to hit the extra point, the fans at Folsom Field showered their own team with boos.
UCLA, now leading 45-10, has outscored Colorado 24-0 in the second half. In the second half of last year's matchup at the Rose Bowl, the Bruins scored 34 unanswered points after the break.
Chip Kelly turns to Ethan Garbers for garbage time
1:35 p.m.: Dorian Thompson-Robinson is done for the day, with Garbers coming in to close out the win.
There are still a few minutes left in the third quarter, so this is pretty early to declare a game a blowout considering it's against a conference opponent. UCLA is up by four touchdowns, though, so this one is pretty much sealed.
Laiatu Latu, the one-man wrecking crew
1:25 p.m.: The Bruins are running away with it, thanks in large part to their defense.
UCLA forced its first three-and-out of the day when Washington transfer defensive end Laiatu Latu came through with a sack. The offense couldn't turn it into points, though, and Colorado got the ball back shortly after.
The Buffaloes were about to punt again, but they ran a fake, only to have it blown up by veteran defensive end Bo Calvert. That time, UCLA turned it into a 44-yard field goal on the other side of the ball.
Latu came through with another sack the following drive, this time forcing a fumble that gave the Bruins the ball at their opponents' 30. Thompson-Robinson found Logan Loya for a 28-yard gain, then delivered ones to Colson Yankoff in the flat for another touchdown.
The points came courtesy of Latu, who is now up to 3.0 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, four tackles, a forced fumble and a pass deflection on the day.
UCLA leads 38-10 with the third quarter winding down, and this game is officially in blowout territory.
Charbonnet keeps the Bruins' offense rolling
12:58 p.m.: After watching from the sidelines as Jones got the call on fourth down the previous drive, Charbonnet made a strong case to be the Bruins' short-yardage back for the rest of the day.
Thompson-Robinson found Kam Brown on a jump ball to open the second half, and two more completions had the Bruins facing a 3rd-and-2 at the Buffaloes' 46. That's when Charbonnet found daylight up the middle, breaking off a 46-yard run all the way into the end zone.
It was Charbonnet's third touchdown of the day, and the gain brought him up to 99 yards on just seven carries.
As a result, UCLA vaulted back ahead 28-10 less than two minutes into the second half.
HALFTIME: UCLA 21, Colorado 10
12:34 p.m.: The Bruins decided to hand the ball off to Keegan Jones on 4th-and-short deep in enemy territory, and as has been the case in most of his career attempts in that scenario, he came up short.
In response, the Buffaloes marched 74 yards on nine plays – their longest and most efficient drive of the season so far. McCown picked up the short rushing touchdown on fourth down, and his home crowd was raucous as they left for the locker room.
Here are the statistical leaders halfway through the contest:
TOTAL YARDS: UCLA 300, Colorado 182
PASS YARDS: UCLA 174, Colorado 145
RUSH YARDS: UCLA 126, Colorado 37
FIRST DOWNS: UCLA 15, Colorado 11
PASSING LEADERS
D. Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 13-of-16, 174 yards, 1 TD
O. McCown (CU): 12-of-21, 145 yards
RUSHING LEADERS
Z. Charbonnet (UCLA): 6 carries, 53 yards, 2 TD
C. Offerdahl (CU): 10 carries, 34 yards
RECEIVING LEADERS
M. Sykes (UCLA): 4 receptions, 48 yards, 1 TD
B. Russell (CU): 3 receptions, 25 yards
DTR continues to gash the Buffaloes' defense
12:02 p.m.: The Bruins may have given up points to the Buffaloes' bottom-tier offense, but their offense has shown no signs of slowing down.
Charbonnet was the one to break into the end zone for the 13-yard score, of course, not to overshadow Thompson-Robinson's big-play ability on the rest of the drive. Thompson-Robinson started things off with completions of 12 and 14 yards, then got 19 yards on a keeper to convert on third down.
A 13-yard completion to receiver Kazmeir Allen got the Bruins into the red zone, and then Charbonnet went 13-yards for the touchdown two plays later.
Thompson-Robinson is 10-of-11 with 131 yards and a touchdown through the air, plus 60 yards on four carries on the ground. Charbonnet, meanwhile, has 53 yards on five carries.
Surrendering any points to Colorado stings, especially when it involves a 42-yard bomb by McCown – the Buffaloes' longest play of the season. Still, though, UCLA is up 21-3 with 9:00 remaining in the first half.
Charbonnet breaks free, offense on a roll
11:39 a.m.: It was only a matter of time before Charbonnet left a mark on this game.
UCLA was mostly getting yards through the air, crawling out of the shadow of their own end zone thanks to a pair of long completions to tight end Hudson Habermehl and Sykes. After completing a 22-yarder to receiver Jake Bobo, Thompson-Robinson was 7-of-7 with 96 yards and a touchdown.
Thompson-Robinson just barely overthrew receiver Logan Loya on a wheel route, as the pass bounced off his hands when a catch could have led to a touchdown. The Bruins went back to the ground on the very next play, and Charbonnet found a hole on the right side en route to a big score.
Charbonnet made it into the end zone from 35 yards out, following his blockers and using a few hesitation moves to create space. UCLA took a 14-0 lead as a result, putting them up two scores with 46 second left in the first quarter.
Another defensive lineman leaves the game
11:31 a.m.: It wasn't an injury, but the Bruins will be without another key defensive contributor for the rest of the afternoon.
North Texas transfer defensive end Gabriel Murphy was called for targeting for a hit on McCown after he released the ball, knocking the quarterback's helmet clean off. The review confirmed that Murphy led with the crown of his helmet, and he was ejected.
UCLA forced a punt, but wound up pinned inside the 5 yard line.
Bruins take the lead, lose key player
11:23 a.m.: The scoreboard shows the Bruins ahead, but they suffered a significant loss on the opening drive.
Defensive lineman Jay Toia was injured and forced to leave the game. With Gary Smith III and Martin Andrus Jr. going down in Week 3, the Bruins are now extremely thin at interior defensive line.
Colorado marched into UCLA territory on the first drive of the day, but missed a field goal and handed the ball back near midfield.
The Bruins capitalized by going 64 yards in six plays, as Thompson-Robinson hit receiver Matt Sykes for a 24-yard touchdown. Thompson-Robinson also rushed for 28 yards on the drive, and he has done a lot of the heavy lifting on offense so far.
When the Buffaloes get the ball back, though, the Bruins will be playing shorthanded despite owning a 7-0 lead midway through the opening frame.
Ralphie takes the field, Boulder crowd still thin
10:59 a.m.: Much has been made of the lack of fans in the Rose Bowl stands the past few weeks, but the Buffaloes could be facing attendance concerns of their own.
Their fanbase has pretty openly turned against coach Karl Dorrell, to the point where the athletic director had to write a letter to the community asking them not to bail on the team so early in the season. His plea does not appear to have done much, as a photo from 247Sports' Bruin Report Online shows.
The photo was taken 30 minutes before kickoff, so more fans have showed up since, especially on the lower levels, but the final number still probably won't look too great.
UCLA won the toss and deferred, so Colorado will start with the ball.
Colorado reportedly picks starting QB
10:27 a.m.: After rotating through three quarterbacks in their first three games, the Buffaloes have apparently settled on a new starter versus the Bruins.
According to a report from BuffZone's Brian Howell, true freshman Owen McCown will draw the start Sautrday. McCown, who is the son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown, has attempted seven passes so far this season and completed four for 52 yards. He has also picked up nine yards on the ground off of three carries.
As for UCLA, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and running back Zach Charbonnet are warming up per usual.
It's currently 73 degrees and sunny in Boulder, with a high of 80 in the forecast for later this afternoon.
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