Football Monday: UCLA v. Washington

Every UCLA football Saturday has so much more to it than a win or a loss. That’s why each postgame Monday, 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 44-30 win over Washington Saturday at Husky Stadium.

The Good: Offense clicking

The Bruins produced one of their most efficient performances of the year Saturday and looked sharp throughout their dismantling of the Huskies’ defense.

Redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley once again received excellent protection from his offensive line as the unit yielded just one sack against one of the nation’s best pass rushes. Playing behind a clean pocket, Hundley carved up Washington’s inexperienced secondary to the tune of 302 yards while completing 80.5 percent of his passes.

Speaking of clean, UCLA committed just four penalties Saturday after accumulating 25 over the last two weeks and had zero during the first two quarters. That number should have been even lower if it wasn’t for a highly questionable offensive pass interference call on redshirt junior Devin Lucien that negated the receiver’s fourth-quarter touchdown grab.

“We didn’t have any (penalties) in the first half and somebody alerted me to that, and I almost passed out,” said coach Jim Mora about his team committing zero penalties in the first half.

The Bad: Second-half defense

UCLA appeared to have picked up right where they left off against Arizona, limiting Washington to 129 yards of offense in the first half and forcing four three-and-outs in the initial two quarters.

The Bruins were far more porous in the second half in playing with a 31-10 lead after the break. The Huskies strung together four straight scoring drives, three of which went for more than 10 plays and the fourth being Washington sophomore wide receiver John Ross’ 100-yard touchdown kickoff return.

To their credit, the Bruins came up with a stop when they absolutely needed it, as junior cornerback Fabian Moreau intercepted Washington sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles on the Huskies’ final possession to seal the victory.

The Verdict: Bruins played their best when they needed to

After a largely unimpressive and inconsistent first two months of play, UCLA has now strung together two of its most impressive performances of the year in its victories over Arizona and Washington.

UCLA turned in a strong encore Saturday following a strong defensive performance a week ago, as the Bruin offense took it to the Huskies’ defense and will now finish the regular season undefeated away from the Rose Bowl.

With a bye next week, UCLA heads into its final two contests – both of which are at home – playing its best football of the year. And though the Bruins still trail the Arizona State Sun Devils by half a game in the Pac-12 South, UCLA looks poised to be in the mix for a spot in the Pac-12 title game in the final week of the regular season.

Player of the Game: Hundley

Speaking of complete performances, Hundley put together one of his strongest games of his UCLA career Saturday and made a little bit of history in the process.

Hundley hit redshirt sophomore receiver Kenny Walker 57 yards downfield early in the first quarter for his 69th career touchdown pass as a Bruin, breaking former UCLA quarterback Cade McNown’s school record.

Oddly enough, that pass might have been Hundley’s least impressive of the day, as the three-year starter was composed and polished in the pocket. Hundley regularly stepped up and made throws down the middle of the field, delivering several passes into tight coverage against a Washington defense that routinely had seven and eight defenders playing the pass.

Hundley also tormented Washington on the ground, notching two first-half touchdown runs as a part of UCLA’s dominant offensive performance.

Quote of the Game: Walker on UCLA exposing an inexperienced Washington secondary that was without star junior cornerback Marcus Peters, who was dismissed from the team Thursday

“I just knew it was going to be hell (for Washington’s secondary), soon as he got kicked off the team … I mean, it’s not a good look. But at the same time, it’s a good look for us.”