Football faced with possible Rosen absence, aims to rebuild confidence
Sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen left the game after landing on his throwing arm in the fourth quarter. Coach Jim Mora was cautiously optimistic that Rosen would be able to play on Saturday. (Jintak Han/Assistant photo editor)
By TuAnh Dam
Oct. 10, 2016 9:55 p.m.
The only thing harder than the three sacks quarterback Josh Rosen took Saturday night against ASU was the sophomore’s iron will to get back onto the field.
Rosen left the game twice – once in the second quarter and again in the fourth quarter – after landing awkwardly on his throwing arm. The sophomore returned to the game to try and help UCLA mount a comeback and almost succeeded before another big hit took him out of the game for good.
The Bruins (3-3, 1-2 Pac-12) lost to the Sun Devils (5-1, 2-1 Pac-12) 23-20, but the bigger storyline was the potential loss of their star quarterback.
Coach Jim Mora had no updates on Rosen after the game, only saying that he was “beat up.” Mora also blamed the pressure the sophomore faces on the anemic run game which allowed opposing defenses to focus more on Rosen and his passes.
[Related: UCLA football’s offense struggles against ASU, crumbles 23-20]
On Monday, Mora was cautiously optimistic that his quarterback would be able to suit up against Washington State on Saturday despite his upper-body injury.
“Hopefully he’ll be OK to go this week. He’s a tough kid and I was impressed the way he came back in and fought through some obvious pain,” Mora said. “He kind of willed himself into a situation where he tried to mentally overcome the pain he was feeling and he did … I’d be surprised if he didn’t do everything he (could) to be back out there on Saturday night.”
Rosen finished Saturday’s game with 400 passing yards, his 10th career 300-yard passing game, tying him with former UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley for second on the program’s all-time list.
“I texted (Rosen) after the game and I said, ‘You’re a warrior,’” said redshirt junior center Scott Quessenberry. “He’s the ultimate competitor and for anybody who doesn’t believe that, I feel like he proved them wrong on Saturday.”
Without Rosen, the Bruins will likely rely on redshirt senior Mike Fafaul. Fafaul stepped in for the sophomore against ASU, but finished with two interceptions and just three completions.
[Related: Backup quarterback falters, defense remains strong in ASU loss]
Fafaul admitted in the postgame press conference that he initially had a difficult time adjusting to the speed of the game, throwing for just 44 yards and getting sacked twice on the final drive of the game.
UCLA has given up 15 sacks through six games after giving up just 14 all season last year.
The increase in sacks isn’t solely because of the offensive line Mora said, but depends on the situation and is a result of all eleven players on the field.
“Sometimes it’s about a back not picking up the right guy, sometimes it’s the receiver not running the right route so the quarterback has to hold it, and sometimes it’s the quarterback not getting the right read and not delivering the ball on time and holding it for too long,” Mora said. “It’s all of those things, and we’ve got to get better and we’ve got to regain our mojo and our confidence and that’s hard to do.”
Hard or not, the Bruins will have to regain their mojo quickly, but they might have to get through the second half of the season with no momentum, no run game and possibly no Josh Rosen.
