UCLA vs. South Alabama Week 3: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
UCLA football (2-0) is playing South Alabama (2-0) in Week 3 of the 2022 college football season, pitting the Bruins and Jaguars against each other at the Rose Bowl for the first time ever.
Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.
FINAL: UCLA 32, South Alabama 31
2:17 p.m.: A lot of action was packed into the fourth quarter, including a missed two-point conversion and failed fake field goal that set the Bruins up to escape with a win.
That's exactly what they did, with Barr-Mira nailing a 24-yard field goal to end it.
Read up on the biggest storylines of the day in All Bruins' game wrap of the tight contest.
Another fumble puts Bruins in even more trouble
1:31 p.m.: The Bruins are back to playing catch-up.
After the Jaguars scored a touchdown to take the lead, Thompson-Robinson tried to pitch it out to Keegan Jones on his right. Jones completely dropped it, and the ball rolled all the way back instead the 10 for South Alabama to recover.
Bradley hit a man on a slant for a touchdown, and it took a matter of minutes for the Jaguars to jump ahead by eight points.
UCLA is down 31-23 at the start of the fourth quarter, but a 3rd down conversion from Thompson-Robinson to receiver Logan Loya set them up at South Alabama's 37 heading into the final frame.
South Alabama retakes the lead, defense still shaky
1:24 p.m.: The Bruins secondary is still getting carved up, and their latest drive ended with a familiar finish.
A 37-yard flea flicker set the Jaguars up in UCLA territory, and Marco Lee picked up his second 1-yard touchdown of the day. That all came after South Alabama faced a 3rd-and-10 on the opening set of downs, and they immediately flipped the script from there.
UCLA is down 24-23 with 1:43 left until the fourth quarter begins.
Review confirms turnover, Bruins capitalize with points
1:15 p.m.: Linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother forced a fumble and cornerback Devin Kirkwood returned it 67 yards for a touchdown. At least, that's how it was called on the field.
The instant replay showed the ball-carrier's knee go down, but the play was bang-bang enough that the call was upheld. Kirkwood's return, however, was not, as his knee was clearly down when he scooped up the loose ball.
Thompson-Robinson converted on third down with his legs, then converted again courtesy of a defensive holding call. Bobo stayed present in the passing game, but left the game when he had a chunk of grass stuck in his facemask.
That's where the drive stalled, and Barr-Mira came on to hit a 28-yard field goal.
UCLA leads 23-17 with 4:46 remaining in the third.
UCLA offense comes through with big plays
12:47 p.m.: The Bruins' offense picked up where it left off to end the last half, marching 75 yards in four plays to retake the lead.
Thompson-Robinson hit Bobo for 21 yards to open up the drive, then Charbonnet rushed for 8 and 20 yards to keep the momentum going. Thompson-Robinson tried to find Kam Brown for another first down, but there was defensive pass interference and roughing the passer that gave UCLA the first down regardless.
Brown was the target again on the next play, catching the ball inside the 5 and scurrying into the end zone for six.
Barr-Mira hit the extra point, and UCLA now leads 20-17 with 13:22 left in the third quarter.
HALFTIME: South Alabama 17, UCLA 13
12:21 p.m.: The Jaguars had a couple third downs that they converted, but they wound up bleeding out the clock on a fourth down and punting near midfield to end the half.
Here are the statistical leaders halfway through the contest:
TOTAL YARDS: South Alabama 250, UCLA 145
PASS YARDS: South Alabama 140, UCLA 111
RUSH YARDS: South Alabama 110, UCLA 84
FIRST DOWNS: South Alabama 13, UCLA 8
PASSING LEADERS
D. Thompson-Robinson (UCLA): 8-of-12, 111 yards, 1 TD
C. Bradley (USA): 16-of-22, 140 yards, 1 INT
RUSHING LEADERS
K. Jones (UCLA): 5 carries, 43 yards
L. Webb (USA): 7 carries, 80 yards, 1 TD
RECEIVING LEADERS
Z. Charbonnet (UCLA): 3 receptions, 51 yards
J. Wayne (USA): 6 receptions, 63 yards
Jake Bobo, Keegan Jones make plays, Bruins find end zone
12:11 p.m.: The Bruins were on the verge of falling behind by even more, and then one of their top newcomers finally got involved.
Facing a 3rd-and-9, Thompson-Robinson delivered a deep ball to Duke transfer receiver Jake Bobo. That play went for 34 yards, and it was immediately followed up with a 25-yard run by Keegan Jones, who utilized a nasty spin move to shake off a defender.
Thompson-Robinson dropped back and looked Bobo's way yet again, lofting it right over the inside linebacker where only Bobo could get it. The 6-foot-5 wideout jumped to reel in the 9-yard touchdown, reviving the Bruins' offense at least for the moment.
Jones had a great blitz pickup on Thompson-Robinson's blind side, and that gave his quarterback enough time to deliver the scoring strike.
UCLA is still trailing, but is only down 17-13 with 3:25 left in the half.
Jaguars go up by two scores
12:00 p.m.: The Bruins are officially on upset alert, if they weren't already.
Capitalizing on Charbonnet's goal line fumble, the Jaguars marched 80 yards with multiple gains of double-digit yards. It all ended with a 9-yard touchdown run by La'Damian Webb, who made it several yards past the line of scrimmage before getting touched and then put his head down and trucked his way into the end zone.
South Alabama is up 17-6 with 5:54 remaining in the first half.
Charbonnet's touchdown called back, fumble turns it over
11:51 a.m.: For a moment, the Bruins had taken the lead.
Thompson-Robinson threaded the needle to Charbonnet over the middle for a 7-yard touchdown, but the running back was ruled down inside the 1-yard line after a video review. The Bruins went right back to Charbonnet on the next play, this time on a run up the middle.
Charbonnet coughed it up before he was even touched, and the Jaguars recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
Instead of leading 13-10, UCLA still trails 10-6 early in the second quarter.
Bruins, Jaguars trade field goals
11:39 a.m.: Charbonnet may be splitting snaps with Keegan Jones, but he is making the most out of his time out there on the field.
The star running back made a quick catch on a wheel route to the left side, then took it 44 yards into Jaguar territory. The Bruins picked up another first down, but the drive stalled and Barr-Mira needed to kick another field goal from 49 yards out.
After Barr-Mira hit his second kick of the day, South Alabama got the ball and continued to carve up the UCLA defense. The Bruins were giving up quick pass after quick pass, but then finally held strong on their own side of the field and held the Jaguars to a 38-yard field goal.
South Alabama is up 10-6 with the first quarter winding down.
Chunk run sets Jaguars up for six
11:20 a.m.: Just as the Bruins defense looked like it had really turned things around, they fell back into some of their old traps.
UCLA's pass rush was getting to Bradley and getting tackles near the line of scrimmage. The intermediate gains got South Alabama to midfield, though, and they managed to overcome a good-looking pass breakup by linebacker Darius Muasau and safety Mo Osling III.
Running back La'Damian Webb then burst through a gaping hole on the left side for a 47 yard gain on the ground. A slew of penalties on a discombobulated UCLA defense set South Alabama up even closer to the goal line, and then it was Marco Lee who punched it in for the touchdown.
South Alabama now leads UCLA with 8:51 remaining in the opening quarter.
Dual-sport star gets pick, Bruins get points
11:11 a.m.: Linebacker JonJon Vaughns just made his first big play of the season.
The Jaguars got the ball first after the Bruins won the toss and deferred, and they even picked up a first on their opening set of downs. Quarterback Carter Bradley was making dink-and-dunk passes to move his team down the field, and he tried to squeeze in a slip screen on the right side.
That's why Vaughns stepped in front and returned an interception to the South Alabama 20.
Thompson-Robinson nearly hit UCF transfer receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala in the end zone for a touchdown, but the pass was broken up and UCLA had to settle for a field goal.
Nicholas Barr-Mira drilled the kick from 38 yards out, and UCLA went ahead 3-0 with 12:15 left in the first quarter.
DTR, Zach Charbonnet dressed to play
10:30 a.m.: The Bruins were without their two biggest playmakers last week, as quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson left midway through the second quarter and running back Zach Charbonnet did not take a single snap.
Thompson-Robinson and Charbonnet are both dressed and are warming up like normal. Charbonnet was in full uniform last week, so he could technically be held out Saturday too, but he looks good to go health-wise.
Tight end Michael Ezeike and receiver Kam Brown are finally back out on the field as well. Ezeike left game No. 1 with an injury and was not available in Week 2, but could be ready to return against South Alabama. Brown has not played at all this season.
True freshman TJ Harden is not dressed, meanwhile, according to a report from 247Sports' Bruin Report Online.
Former UCLA men's basketball star Baron Davis is down on the Rose Bowl field.
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