UCLA football defeats Hawai’i in first season-opening win in 4 years

This post was updated Aug. 30 at 1:25 a.m.

The Bruins are 1-0 for the first time in the Chip Kelly era.

In its opening matchup of the 2021 season, UCLA football (1-0) led the whole way in a 44-10 victory over Hawai’i (0-1) Saturday afternoon. The game marks the first time during coach Chip Kelly’s tenure in Westwood that the Bruins have started the season with a win, and just the second time in that timespan that the team sits at above .500.

The story of the first half for the Bruins was the backfield duo of junior Zach Charbonnet and redshirt senior Brittain Brown, who combined for 184 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, including three scores from Charbonnet – the most touchdowns from a running back in a season opener since Johnathan Franklin scored three against Rice in 2012. 

Charbonnet finished his Bruin debut with 106 rushing yards and three touchdowns on just six carries while adding a catch for 14 yards.

“It was a great experience, and I just got to give it all to my O-line, just putting me in great situations when I did have an opportunity,” Charbonnet said. “Just allowing us to be one-on-one with defenders – that’s all, as a running back, you can ask for.”

However, senior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson routinely overthrew his receivers and appeared to be shaking off some rust to open the game, throwing for just 45 yards in the first half. 

But after Brown and Charbonnet scored all of the Bruins’ four first-half touchdowns, Thompson-Robinson was able to get the passing game more involved coming out of the break with a 44-yard completion to redshirt junior running back Kazmeir Allen two minutes into the half for his 41st career touchdown pass, tying Troy Aikman for the seventh most in school history.

Thompson-Robinson credited Brown and Charbonnet for taking pressure off of the passing game and for diversifying the game plan.

“If you ask me, I think we have the best running back duo in the country,” Thompson-Robinson said. “That was on full display today.”

The fourth-year quarterback for UCLA finished the game with 130 passing yards and a touchdown, while the team ran for 253 more yards and four touchdowns.

Just minutes later, the special teams unit was able to get in on the fun when redshirt junior tight end David Priebe recovered a punt blocked by redshirt junior linebacker Ale Kaho and ran it in to give UCLA a 44-3 advantage. 

The Rainbow Warrior offense was finally able to find the end zone when quarterback Chevan Cordeiro led the team down the field and hit tight end Caleb Phillips for a one-yard touchdown after an overturned scoop-and-score touchdown by the Bruin defense earlier in the drive.

Although UCLA did not record a defensive touchdown, it was able to contain Hawai’i’s offense all game, forcing Cordeiro to throw two picks with a completion percentage right around 50%. Cordeiro, who averaged 53.7 rushing yards per game last season, was also held to just 11 yards on the ground.

“I thought that our entire team played with really good energy today, but our defense really set the tone nicely,” Kelly said. “It was obviously a really hot day, so we had to play a lot of guys, but for the first one out of the gates, there is a lot to teach and a lot of good things that we can show them off the film.”

Hawai’i’s offense posted just 26 rushing yards and 269 total yards. Running back Dae Dae Hunter led the team in both receptions and carries, while running back/wide receiver Calvin Turner Jr. caught five passes for 50 yards. 

Senior defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia said it was relieving to start the season with a blowout after enduring several close losses last season.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Ogbonnia said. “Four years being here, putting in that hard work and having some ups and downs. We lost all our games last year by 15 points total, so just having that kind of pain in our minds, knowing that we have to finish, I think that’s what we saw today.”

UCLA snapped the winless streak for Kelly and the Bruins in both season openers and nonconference matchups, but it faces a potentially harder challenge next Saturday when it welcomes No. 16 LSU to Pasadena.

“There are some positive things that we can build on today, but there are a lot of things that we’ve got to clean up,” Kelly said. “We have a very formidable opponent coming in here next Saturday, so we’ll get right back to work pretty quickly.”