UCLA vs. Utah Week 9: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
SALT LAKE CITY — UCLA football (5-3, 3-2 Pac-12) is playing Utah (4-3, 3-2) in Week 9 of the 2021 college football season, pitting two of the top contenders in the South division against each other with major stakes on the line.
Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.
FINAL: Utah 44, UCLA 24
10:38 p.m.: The Bruins have lost back-to-back games and still cannot get past the Utes.
The full game story can be found HERE.
Safety all but ends it
10:17 p.m.: The Bruins allowed a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, but answered with a touchdown of their own to keep the deficit at 11.
And after forcing a punt by the Utes, they were still very much in it with half the fourth quarter left to play.
Then Garbers got sacked in the end zone, and that essentially seals UCLA's fate.
They trail Utah 37-24 heading into the final minutes, and are now burning timeouts in desperation time.
END Q3: Utah 28, UCLA 17
9:47 p.m.: The Utes are knocking on the door, moving it down to the Bruins' 12-yard line before the end of the third quarter.
Another quick tribute video for Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, and the crowd – which has thinned out a bit after halftime – got loud and all had flashlights on. Fireworks were set off in the end zone, and now there are 15 minutes left to play for both teams fighting for their Pac-12 lives.
Garbers coming alive, Bruins not dead yet
9:36 p.m.: After trading punts, turnovers on downs and missed field goal, the Bruins finally broke through to start the scoring in the second half.
Garbers hit receiver Chase Cota deep down the left side for a 41-yard gain that got UCLA to midfield. An illegal hands to the face call against Utah pushed them downfield even further, then Garbers hit Philips on a 27-yarder that got the Bruins into the red zone.
Receiver Josiah Norwood dropped a touchdown, making it third down, and Garbers made the right throw yet again when he hit tight end Michael Ezeike for six. It was Garbers' first career score.
As out of it as UCLA seemed midway through the second quarter, they're still very much in this one, at least on the scoreboard.
Philips did leave the game after his long catch, however. He hit the ground hard with his head, then quickly made his way to the sidelines. A coach tried to slap him on the helmet in celebration, but Philips dodged it and went to sit down after removing his helmet.
Utah leads 28-17 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
Scoreless opening drives, new record set
9:19 p.m.: The Bruins got the ball down to the Utes' 40, getting a big chunk of those yards on a pass interference and a 25-yard completion to receiver Kyle Philips. The 4th-and-5 attempt at the end failed, however, and Utah took over near midfield.
Things didn't go much better for the Utes though, as they made it down to the 29 before getting stopped and instead attempting a field goal.
The 47-yard try was no good. The Bruins took over and immediately gave it back with a 3-and-out that ended in a Luke Akers punt that sailed high out of bounds. Then it was Utah's turn to punt, and UCLA took over again
The press box PA announcer said the official attendance for Saturday's game was 51,922, a new record for Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The capacity listed online for the stadium is 45,807.
UCLA still trails 28-10.
HALFTIME: Utah 28, UCLA 10
8:48 p.m.: After a few big conversions and reviews, the Bruins did not push the ball downfield and had to end up settling for a 55-yard field goal attempt.
Barr-Mira's try had enough juice on it, but sailed just left and UCLA went without a point on its final three drives of the opening half.
The Bruins will get the ball to start the third quarter.
TOTAL YARDS: Utah 238, UCLA 177
PASS YARDS: Utah 92, UCLA 76
RUSH YARDS: Utah 146, UCLA 101
FIRST DOWNS: Utah 16, UCLA 11
PASSING LEADERS
Cameron Rising (UTAH): 8-for-14, 92 yards, 1 TD
Ethan Garbers (UCLA): 13-for-19, 76 yards, 1 INT
RUSHING LEADERS
Tavion Thomas (UTAH): 9 attempts, 63 yards, 3 TD
Zach Charbonnet (UCLA): 6 attempts, 41 yards, 1 TD
Ethan Garbers (UCLA): 7 attempts, 30 yards
RECEIVING LEADERS
Greg Dulcich (UCLA): 4 receptions, 30 yards
Brant Kuithe (UTAH): 2 reception, 34 yards
Dalton Kincaid (UTAH): 2 receptions, 20 yards, 1 TD
Defense getting worse and worse, mistakes spill over to offense
8:29 p.m.: On their first three possessions of the game, the Utes went 75 yards in fewer than four minutes and 10 plays and capped things off with a touchdown.
On their fourth, they had a short field and converted with another touchdown.
The run defense came into Saturday as one of the better units in the Pac-12 but has been dreadful so far. Four touchdowns last week by Oregon's Travis Dye are looking quaint compared to the three Thomas has before halftime in Salt Lake City now.
Utah's third touchdown came on a short pass from quarterback Cameron Rising to tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Garbers threw a pick on a ball that was tipped at the line and popped up in the air by tight end Greg Dulcich immediately following that touchdown by Rising and Kincaid. Two plays later, the Utes had covered all 17 yards they had left in front of them to go up by even more.
Utah is now on the verge of blowing out UCLA, leading 28-10 with 4:27 left until halftime.
Teams trading touchdowns, offense continues to churn it out
8:07 p.m.: Through the air and on the ground, this defense seems to be a lost cause.
Utah opened the quarter by rushing for an 8-yard touchdown, again by Thomas.
It looked like UCLA was going to fail to answer after coming up short on third down several times, but Kelly kept electing to go for it, even on his own side of the field.
Eventually, it was running back Zach Charbonnet who took it into the end zone from 30 yards out on yet another fourth down conversion, the Bruins' third of the night so far. The defense sold out for the quarterback sneak and Charbonnet had to shake off one or two guys before he was in the complete clear.
It was ironic Charbonnet was the one to get the big play, since he had been struggling to that point and it was running back Brittain Brown who had been playing noticeably better all night.
UCLA still trails 14-10 with 9:06 remaining in the second quarter.
END Q1: Utah 7, UCLA 3
7:49 p.m.: The Utes are marching again, facing a 3rd-and-4 on the Bruins' 8-yard line.
Between quarters, Utah had a moment to honor Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe, who both died in the past year. The two players' families came onto the field with their jerseys after a video from the team about their impact on the roster and coaching staff.
Players and coaches on both teams clapped and knelt as No. 22 was retired by the school.
Defense porous, Kelly trusting Garbers to run full offense
7:39 p.m.: The Bruins' defense looked about as horrid as it has in past weeks, without much improvement.
The Utes were converting on third downs, and penalties helped them out as well. Linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath had a facemask called against him as well, and that set up a 10-yard rushing touchdown by running back Tavion Thomas.
UCLA didn't tie it up on its first drive of the game, but the offense looked like its normal self even without Thompson-Robinson.
Coach Chip Kelly wasn't kidding this week when he said the game plan would be the same regardless of who was starting at quarterback. Garbers scrambled for a first down and looked very mobile and viable with his legs.
The Bruins made it all the way down to the Utes' 10-yard line, following a 4th down conversion and two timeouts, but a fumble on a bad snap stalled the drive and they had to settle for three.
Kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira drilled his attempt from 28 yards away to get his team on the board.
Utah now leads UCLA 7-3 as the first quarter is nearing its final moment.
Garbers named official starter
6:59 p.m.: It took a full week, but the seemingly inevitable has been confirmed.
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is not starting for the Bruins. Instead, Ethan Garbers will be taking his place the same way he did on the final drive against Oregon in Week 8.
This will be Garbers' first career collegiate start, and the first game missed by Thompson-Robinson in 2021.
UCLA Athletics has not confirmed whether or not Thompson-Robinson has been ruled available or unavailable by the team's coaches and training staff.
Thompson-Robinson warming up, Anderson and Johnson out
6:33 p.m.: There is new information on the situation at quarterback for the first time in three days, and there still aren't any definitive answers.
For the earliest warmups, Dorian Thompson-Robinson was throwing with his left hand. When he came back out in full uniform, however, he was back to throwing with his right, even though it was still wrapped and taped like it had been throughout the week following his injury against Oregon last weekend.
Ethan Garbers was taking snaps from starting center Duke Clemens though, and Thompson-Robinson was paired up with Paul Grattan. Garbers also went first in the throwing rotation, so while Thompson-Robinson was still making some pretty solid throws, his hold on the starting spot is certainly up in the air.
Quarterback Chase Griffin is not dressed out on the field.
Right tackle Alec Anderson has been officially ruled out for the game altogether. Anderson sustained an injury against the Ducks a week ago, but returned a drive later to finish out that contest.
Linebacker Caleb Johnson, who was in the injured cohort at practice all week, has also been confirmed as out.
The injuries that are holding them out Saturday is undetermined.
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