Paul Perkins carries UCLA to 37-3 win over UNLV
Redshirt junior running back Paul Perkins carried the ball 18 times for 151 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday against UNLV. He scored touchdowns on two of the Bruins’ first three drives in the second half. (Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Football
| No. 13 UCLA | 37 |
| UNLV | 3 |
By Matt Joye
Sept. 12, 2015 11:13 p.m.
LAS VEGAS — As freshman quarterback Josh Rosen torched the Virginia defense with his arm last weekend, running back Paul Perkins was cast out of the spotlight.
But on Saturday, Rosen was the one taking the back seat. Perkins stole the show.
The redshirt junior took charge of the game in the second half. He scored touchdown runs on two of UCLA’s first three drives in the third quarter, the latter of which was a 56-yard burst.
“(It was) just a regular zone play, and I glide to the right and they have no safety help. So I just took it to the house,” he said.
By game’s end, Perkins had 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns, and UCLA had a 37-3 win over UNLV.
“He’s that blue-collar guy, you know, and you don’t really notice him,” said offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone. “I know he broke one long one, (but) he wears you down.”
Before Perkins’ standout second-half performance, the No. 13 Bruins (2-0) were having a difficult time separating themselves from heavy underdog UNLV (0-2). They held a 17-0 lead at halftime but struggled to control the line of scrimmage. Only eight of the Bruins’ 21 first-half rushes went for more than four yards and UCLA failed to convert a fourth down-and-short opportunity at the UNLV 30-yard line.
“Offensively, we were off just a tad,” said coach Jim Mora.
UCLA finished the first half with a 4.14 yards-per-carry average on 21 attempts. Usually, that’s acceptable; but against a porous UNLV defense that gave up 331 rush yards a week earlier, it left a little to be desired.
Meanwhile, Rosen put up a respectable performance in the first half – 14 for 25 for 151 yards and a touchdown – but he wasn’t lights out like he was against Virginia last week. He had a few overthrows and wasn’t quite as pinpoint with his accuracy on the deep ball.
“I told you to temper your expectations (with Rosen),” Mora said. “It ain’t going to be as pretty every week as it was last week.”
As Rosen took a slight step back, Perkins took a big step forward – particularly in the second half.
On five second-half touches, Perkins carved up the Rebel defense to the tune of 82 yards, nearly matching UCLA’s first-half total of 83 rush yards on 21 attempts. At the end of the game, UCLA’s rushing average had ballooned to 5.8 yards per carry.
“I mean the offensive line is doing a great job out there,” Perkins said. “I knew one of us was gonna break and the offensive line was doing a great job so it was only a matter of time before one of us broke.”
The offensive line improved its perimeter blocking in the second half, Mazzone said. Perkins’ two longest runs both came on carries where he took the ball toward the right sideline. He also mixed in a couple of pass receptions for 24 yards.
Perkins threw the gauntlet down for Rosen to re-emerge as the Bruins’ offensive MVP. Now, Rosen has to wait until Saturday at 7:30 p.m. to answer back.
