Football ‘humbled’ in loss to Fresno State, players working through injuries

This post was updated Sept. 23 at 12:54 a.m.

The Bruins were humbled Saturday, according to Dorian Thompson-Robinson.

After an undefeated start to the season and achieving its highest ranking in nearly six years, No. 24 UCLA football (2-1) lost its first game of the 2021 campaign Saturday to No. 22 Fresno State (3-1) in its final nonconference contest of the season. Following the loss, the Bruins fell 11 spots in the AP poll – their largest one-week drop within the rankings since 2015.

“Everybody got their hopes up, and now we’re back to the realization of, ‘We got to put this work in and we can’t just be all talk,’” the senior quarterback said. “It’s a very humbled team – we’re ready to go back to work and get back to the fundamentals and start this thing over again.”

Thompson-Robinson said the Fresno State loss was especially humbling because of the way it happened, adding that UCLA’s mistakes alone determined the outcome of the game.

“We gave them the game, they didn’t really win the game,” Thompson-Robinson said. “Ultimately, if guys would’ve just done their job and done it correctly, that game would have been put away a long time ago.”

In the loss, the Bruins’ rushing attack was limited to its lowest-yardage game in the last two seasons, while the team turned the ball over more than it has in any contest this campaign. UCLA also lost the time of possession battle by more than 20 minutes for the first time since 2016.

Like the offense, the defense reached a season low as well, giving up the most yards it has allowed in nearly two years, with Fresno State’s 569 total yards bested only by USC’s 643 mark from 2019. The Bulldogs’ air assault – which produced 455 yards – dropped the Bruins down to 123rd in the nation out of 130 teams in passing yards allowed per game.

Coach Chip Kelly, who noted at practice Monday that he tried to make adjustments during the game, said the pass defense will be an area of focus this week in practice.

“We were off a little bit,” Kelly said. “(We were) trying to keep the ball in front of us, rally up and make tackles. We need to tighten that up this week.”

But even with the season lows in a number of categories, one Bruin had his career-best day Saturday.

Held off the stat sheet in his first two games with UCLA after transferring from Texas A&M in the offseason, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kam Brown filled it up against Fresno State, grabbing five receptions for 111 yards and a touchdown – all of which mark career highs.

Brown said he’s hoping his big day propels him to another one against Stanford on Saturday.

“It felt pretty good to get the ball, get hit a little bit, be able to feel what it’s like to get back into action,” Brown said. “I’m going to try to be able to get on the road (against Stanford).”

Injury updates

A pair of injured starters were left off the practice field to start the week.

Both senior defensive back Quentin Lake and senior defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia left the game against Fresno State early with injuries, and both were seen away from the rest of the team during the media portion of UCLA’s practice Monday. Junior tight end Mike Martinez, who has not been on the injury report in recent weeks, was also seen in a walking boot with a knee scooter Monday and did not participate in practice.

At his media availability, Kelly said the progress of the injured players will be monitored throughout the week and that no decisions had been made on who would play against the Cardinal as of Monday.

“We’ll just see where they are this week and what the process is and how much they can do during the course of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and listen to our trainers and tell us where they are,” Kelly said.

But while several Bruins face the possibility of missing time, one player returned from a lengthy absence Saturday.

Senior offensive lineman Sam Marrazzo – who missed the first two games of the season with a leg injury after starting every game at center last year – made his return to the field against Fresno State for his first game action since sustaining the injury in the 2020 season finale.

Though he noted that the offensive line play wasn’t perfect in Marrazzo’s return, Thompson-Robinson said his level of familiarity with the center gave the offense a level of consistency.

“There was no drop-off,” Thompson-Robinson said. “Obviously, the game wasn’t perfect and Sam didn’t call a perfect game, but again, whether we were right or wrong, we were all on the same page.”