Rosen’s return date to football field uncertain, Fafaul steps up

Quarterback Josh Rosen threw a couple passes in warmup, suited up and took to the field with his teammates.

He did everything, except play against Utah.

The sophomore sat out for the second straight game after suffering upper and lower body injuries against Arizona State two and a half weeks ago, leaving redshirt senior Mike Fafaul to man the offense.

Fafaul set school records in passes attempted and completions, but couldn’t lead UCLA to a victory in Saturday.

Coach Jim Mora described Fafaul’s performance as “gritty” and said the former walk-on has earned the respect of his teammates with his play over the past few weeks.

Mora had been hopeful his starter would return against the Utes, but ultimately decided against it to protect Rosen’s shoulder from opponents potentially targeting it.

Mora said at this week’s press conference that there was no timetable for Rosen’s return, adding that there was a problem with a nerve and how it fires.

“The question is when does it fire again. It’s just not to the point where he can cut it loose,” Mora said. “He’s getting closer and closer. They can’t say after this amount of time, it will fire. In terms of medicine, it’s a great unknown. They have to just treat it and eventually it fires and readies to go. My understanding is once it starts going, he should be good pretty quick.”

Until then, the offense and the game plan for next week’s game against Colorado will still center around Fafaul.

Fafaul’s two losses were both by a single score – 27-21 against Washington State and 52-45 against Utah – and the backup quarterback is optimistic that the Bruins will be capable of finishing future games, especially on the ground.

The running backs faltered again, this time with sophomore Bolu Olorunfunmi taking a majority of the carries.

The “workhorse,” as Mora calls him, was the healthiest running back available – junior Nate Starks did not play and sophomore Soso Jamabo only played one snap.

After running just 16 times against the Utes, the Bruins are now last in the country in average rushing yards per game. Through eight games, they’ve averaged 85.5 yards on the ground, almost 30 yards behind the closest Pac-12 team and 130 yards less than the Colorado Buffaloes.

“A lot of plays, we’re one guy off. We have to put it together,” Fafaul said. “That’s our main focus. We just need to finish as an offense. We’re getting there in the passing game, but in the run game, we’ll keep working.”