Football Tuesday – Nov. 12

Every UCLA football Saturday, whether at the Rose Bowl or on the road, has so much more to it than a win or a loss. That’s why each postgame Monday (or Tuesday, in this case), the Daily Bruin will break down the Bruins’ most recent game, outlining the good, the bad and the verdict for their performance.

This week, we take a closer look at UCLA’s 31-26 win over Arizona on Saturday at Arizona Stadium.

The Good: Myles Jack

The freshman outside linebacker made his debut at halfback on Saturday, and with that now comes an unpredictability that UCLA’s offense hasn’t had all season. Jack carried the ball just six times but tallied 120 yards, his final carry resulting in a knockout punch of a 66-yard touchdown.

Behind the blocking of traditionally defensive players like senior inside linebacker Jordan Zumwalt and freshman defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, Jack completely changed the momentum of a game that had been 24-19 with Arizona driving. His touchdown was the longest scored by a UCLA running back this season.

In addition to Jack, Zumwalt caught a 12-yard pass, adding yet another wrinkle to a 16-play, 90-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter that constantly had the Wildcats second-guessing.

The Bad: Stopping Carey and Co.

UCLA did a good job in the first half of holding Arizona running back Ka’Deem Carey relatively in check, allowing a short touchdown run and a long rush of 11 yards. However, the second half saw Carey run for nearly 100 yards as a tired UCLA defense started to feel the effects of a six-drive, four-punt span that quickly put the ball back in the hands of the Arizona offense.

The Bruin defense also allowed Arizona freshman wide receiver Nate Phillips to have a career night. The 5-foot-7-inch, 177-pound receiver broke between UCLA linebackers and safeties on two separate occasions in the fourth quarter, both touchdowns that brought the Wildcats to within five points of the Bruins. Phillips finished with 8 catches for 97 yards.

Still, the defense managed to secure the road win without the impact of senior outside linebacker Anthony Barr, who finished the game without a tackle.

“I put that on my shoulders,” Barr said. “You should never go 60 minutes or however long we’re out there on the field without making a tackle. I’ve just got to do better.”

Verdict: Continued concerns about consistency

With just three scheduled games left for the Bruins, coach Jim Mora’s squad has yet to emerge victorious via a complete two-half performance against a winning team. The Bruins are 2-2 against teams that currently own a winning record.

UCLA overcame an 18-point, first-half deficit during its win at Nebraska, and produced a single second-half touchdown despite forcing four interceptions in the second half. Saturday looked promising with a 21-10 halftime lead, but a combination of a shaky second-half Bruin attack and surging Wildcat offense gave Arizona a chance to win the game with its last possession.

Mora said that wins are so hard to come by that he doesn’t take a victory for granted. While Mora’s approach preserves respect for the hard work his players put in every week, UCLA closes the season against three teams that currently have winning records.

Each remaining game has a good shot of being close, and novelties like defensive players assisting with or producing touchdown drives do not figure to consistently provide momentum swings needed to bail out down periods on either side of the ball.

Player of the Game: Senior inside linebacker Jordan Zumwalt

Zumwalt finished with a team-high nine solo tackles, including two for losses. One of those stops directly forced an Arizona field goal, as Zumwalt never seemed to take his sights off of Arizona quarterback B.J. Denker on a third and one on UCLA’s four-yard line. Denker faked a handoff, but almost immediately afterward, Zumwalt threw Denker to the ground by his upper body for a 6-yard loss.

Zumwalt’s biggest play of the game, however, didn’t show up on the official Pac-12 stat sheet. With Carey running forward from UCLA’s five-yard line, Zumwalt laid a hit on Carey that transformed the running back into a human helicopter propeller. Sophomore safety Randall Goforth jarred the ball loose around the UCLA one-yard line by delivering a second strike to the airborne Carey, and Jack finished the play by falling on the pigskin in the end zone for a touchback, terminating a good shot at an Arizona touchdown on the Wildcats’ first possession of the second half.

Quote of the Week: Senior inside linebacker Jordan Zumwalt, when asked about Myles Jack’s performance:

“Oh, did you guys watch the game? The kid’s the new Boobie Miles. If we could keep him in shape to play both ways, shoot, talk about a Heisman two years from now.”