UCLA football trails BYU 10-3 at halftime
Freshman quarterback Josh Rosen threw more interceptions in the first half against BYU than he did in his first two games combined. (Daniel Alcazar/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Matt Joye
Sept. 19, 2015 8:53 p.m.
PASADENA — And now the freshman growing pains have really started to set in for quarterback Josh Rosen and UCLA football.
For the first two games of the season, the true freshman looked unflappable. Even when he was a bit off last week against UNLV, he was still able to overcome his minor struggles and the Bruins still won handily.
But against his first top-25 college competition of his career, Rosen looked outmatched. He threw three first-half interceptions, and almost single handedly prevented No. 10 UCLA (2-0) from gaining a lead against No. 19 BYU. At the end of the first half, BYU holds a 10-3 lead.
In the first quarter, Rosen sullied the Bruins’ first red-zone appearance of the game, throwing an interception inside the 20-yard line. On the play, Rosen committed the cardinal sin for quarterbacks: He rolled right and threw back across his body to the left. It appeared that Rosen didn’t even see the player who intercepted the ball on the play – BYU linebacker Harvey Langi.
Later in the half, Rosen committed the same mistake, and it resulted in another red-zone interception. With the Bruins inching toward the tying touchdown at the BYU 9-yard line, Rosen rolled to his right and threw back slightly to his left, and BYU picked off the pass.
Rosen has 30 minutes left to reverse the mistakes that he made in the first half and salvage UCLA’s position in the AP Top 10.
Compiled by Matthew Joye, Bruin Sports senior staff.
