Five Things: UCLA vs. Colorado

UCLA football (0-1) turned a 28-point deficit into a near-victory Saturday night against Colorado (1-0), but a loss is a loss. The long-awaited game was a high-scoring affair for both teams, and it was the start of the most unorthodox Pac-12 season in history. Here are five of the biggest storylines that emerged from the season-opening loss and what it could mean for the future of the campaign.

Even with Norwood, Azzinaro’s defense falters

Heading into this season, the prevailing thought was that the Bruin defense couldn’t possibly get any worse.

After all, the secondary allowed a program-worst 310.8 passing yards per game, and the defense ranked 11th in the conference with 456.3 total yards against per game. Former Navy co-defensive coordinator Brian Norwood joined the staff as defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, and he was expected to lend a hand in turning defensive coordinator Jerry Azzinaro’s unit around.

Norwood still has time to prove he can live up to those expectations, but he didn’t Saturday night.

The Buffaloes gashed the Bruin defense for 525 yards – 261 through the air and 264 on the ground – which is the most UCLA has allowed since the 130-point thriller in Pullman last fall. 257 of those passing yards came from quarterback Sam Noyer, who entered the game with a 51.2% career completion percentage and 78.1 career passer rating, in his first collegiate start.

Noyer was a safety and special teamer last season, and he still finished with a passing touchdown, 64.5% completion percentage and 144.8 passer rating.

It was more of the same on the ground, with the 264 rushing yards from Colorado marking the most UCLA has allowed since then-No. 5 Oklahoma visited the Rose Bowl in 2019.

The Bruins losing five key linebackers and a No. 1 corner probably had something to do with the Buffaloes’ success on offense, but it was still an embarrassing performance on Azzinaro and Norwood’s side of the ball.

Thompson-Robinson has improved, but he’s still himself

In some ways, Saturday was one of the best games of junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s career.

His 109 rushing yards were the most in his career, he broke 300 passing yards for the third time as a Bruin and he accounted for five total touchdowns – his most in any game besides the comeback against Washington State last year. The Buffalo defense also gave the Bruins 70 yards on three defensive pass interference calls and two defensive holding calls, which means Thompson-Robinson essentially accounted for 482 yards of total offense.

In other ways, however, it was more of the same for the signal-caller.

Thompson-Robinson fumbled the ball away on a signature unforced error in the second quarter, losing control of it before the defender even made contact with him. His interception in the first quarter was avoidable, and it only happened because he stared down his receiver without making a second read.

Add in two dropped picks by the Colorado defense and a 50% completion percentage, and Thompson-Robinson’s room for improvement is evident.

Thompson-Robinson continued to show flashes of greatness Saturday night. He continues to break out as a ball-carrier, and he is making smarter plays every week.

But he is who he is, and turnovers and inconsistency just seem to be part of the package when it comes to Thompson-Robinson.

A major second-half turnaround

UCLA went into halftime with 14 points, 9 rushing yards, 1 yard per carry, three punts, eight first downs and four turnovers.

In the second half, the offense flipped the script.

The Bruins put up 28 points, 166 rushing yards, 10.4 yards per carry and 14 first downs in the second half, all without giving the ball away or punting once. They did turn it over on downs twice, but even then, they had already strung together efficient drives into Buffalo territory.

The defense also allowed 13 points in the second half after giving up 35 in the first, which helped the Bruins stage a serious comeback down the stretch.

It wasn’t enough in the end, but the turnarounds made at halftime changed the fabric of the game entirely and left Bruin fans with a somewhat decent taste in their mouths despite the loss.

Chunk plays come up big

The Bruins moved the ball well Saturday night, but most of their yards came on chunk plays.

UCLA’s offense racked up 410 of its 478 total yards off of 17 chunk plays – which are any pass that goes for 15-plus yards or rush that goes for 10-plus yards. That means the Bruins got 85.8% of their yards on just 26.2% of their plays.

What that says about their ability to run the ball up the middle and create 3rd-and-manageable situations is an entirely separate subject, but one thing is for sure – this offense is much more explosive than it was in 2019.

The Bruins’ 7.4 yards per play Saturday were their most since they beat the Cougars in Pullman last year and their second-most in their last 34 games. A 65-yard touchdown run by Thompson-Robinson, a 52-yard receiving touchdown by redshirt sophomore tight end Greg Dulcich and a 41-yard strike to Dulcich were the biggest of the night, and there could certainly be more where those came from.

It remains to be seen if this explosive performance can be replicated, but it seemingly adds a new dynamic to coach Chip Kelly’s offense heading into the rest of 2020.

In a shortened season, every loss means more

The Bruins weathered a 1-5 start in 2019 yet still had a chance to win the Pac-12 South with three games to play.

That won’t be the case in 2020.

The seven-game season means there is less time to make up ground in the conference than the usual nine-game slate. While UCLA is certainly still in the mix mathematically speaking, it only has six more weeks to fight its way back to the top.

Starting the season with a loss means the Bruins do not control their own destiny. No. 20 USC started its season with a win over Arizona State, putting them in the driver’s seat early on.

The impact of Utah and Arizona’s canceled game is also unknown at the moment, but a 4-1 team would beat out a 4-2 squad in the final standings. UCLA might not even be able to host Utah on Saturday, as the Utes’ COVID-19 situation is still fluid.

In a season swamped in uncertainty and unpredictability, the Bruins made things a lot harder for themselves by losing a divisional game it was favored to win.