This post was updated Sept. 27 at 9:26 p.m.

UCLA football’s (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) offensive woes were exposed as it was defeated by No. 10 Utah (4-0, 1-0) by a score of 14-7 on Saturday, causing the Bruins to drop out of the top 25. Senior staff writer Grace Whitaker gives her five biggest takeaways from the Bruins’ first loss of the season.

Moore pressure

Despite strong performances against lower-tier opponents, questions persisted as to how the freshman quarterback Dante Moore would hold his own against a Power Five opponent – especially one coming off of back-to-back Pac-12 championships.

But upon kickoff, it only took five seconds for his first throw to be intercepted and 12 seconds for Utah linebacker Karene Reid to reach the end zone.

Moore threw a pick-six on the first drive of the game on a pass intended for redshirt sophomore wide receiver J.Michael Sturdivant, but instead Reid found the ball as if it was meant for him and ran it to his own end zone, putting the Utes on the board and sending a message.

Moore illustrated composure across the first three games of the season. He was the quarterback who rose above the rest during the three-quarterback competition. The one who entered the game and found success while redshirt junior Ethan Garbers threw two interceptions. The one who completed three touchdown passes against San Diego State and was good for 290 passing yards.

He is also the 18-year-old whom his teammates praised for composure and maturity beyond his years.

However, Saturday revealed that even the most talented and mature prospects still go through the adjustment to a college football environment. Playing in a half empty Rose Bowl against a Sun Belt conference opponent is a different ball game than that of one in a packed Rice-Eccles Stadium against the reigning Pac-12 champions, even if they were missing their starting quarterback.

Achilles’ heel no longer

UCLA’s defense has been the bane of its existence for years.

The Bruins would regularly find offensive success, but their defensive woes prevented them from pulling away in victories over high-caliber opponents.

But on Saturday afternoon, UCLA’s defense appeared to be its Achilles’ heel no longer.

To begin the contest, Utah scored within the first 20 seconds. And while that may sound like a defensive lack, the touchdown was a result of an offensive mistake. UCLA’s defense hadn’t even taken the field yet.

But once it did, it did everything in its power to prevent the Utes from scoring again until the Bruins could find their way on the board. They held out until the waning moments of the first half when Utah completed its first and only offensive scoring play of the game.

In addition, not only did the defense only allow one passing touchdown, but they also held their opponents to 219 total yards – 138 fewer than the Utes’ average coming into Week 4.

If the Bruins’ defense can continue to hold its own in this capacity while the offense finds their stride again, UCLA could be in for an above average season – Saturday’s loss notwithstanding.

Poor playcalling

At the end of the third quarter, UCLA had a chance to score.

The Bruins had marched their way down the field and found themselves positioned securely on the 10-yard line after receiving an automatic first down as a result of a targeting call. UCLA was within arm’s reach of a touchdown and had three chances to score.

But a poor play call on the coaching side resulted in the third rushing play in a row, an option on which Moore kept the ball on that would prove to be his team’s demise. Rather than target the end zone on a pass, Moore was surrounded by Utah’s front seven and fumbled the ball for cornerback Tao Johnson to grab.

Within just 10 yards of the goal line, the wrong play separated UCLA from chopping the lead from 14 to seven and gave the ball back to Utah. The defense came to the Bruins’ rescue just moments later, not allowing the Utes to get down the field, but it didn’t matter. The third quarter was already over and UCLA’s comeback chances were significantly decreased.

In order for UCLA’s offense to score consistently, it must put itself in positions to succeed, and repeatedly running similar unsuccessful plays will not accomplish that goal. Placing the ball in the hands of a pocket-passing quarterback to run into the end zone against a strongly run defense like Utah was a recipe for disaster.

Wading into the deep end

UCLA has the depth; it needs to use it.

Saturday afternoon’s contest was a high-pressure and high-stress environment for Moore, and it showed. For 3 1/2 quarters, the Bruins went scoreless. With three quarterbacks that all boast enough experience to play and have seen game time this season, coach Chip Kelly shouldn’t shy away from trying a new option when the first isn’t working.

When asked if he considered putting Garbers or redshirt junior Collin Schlee in, Kelly had a quick reply.

“No,” Kelly said.

Thus far this season, Kelly hasn’t named a true starter. It’s been assumed that Moore has claimed the position from his counterparts – as he’s started in the last three contests – but Kelly insists that all three quarterbacks can help him win. If this is truly the case, it’s situations like Saturday where Kelly should be using the depth he claims to possess.

And at that, sophomore T.J. Harden and junior Carson Steele were the only running backs to receive carries out of the backfield. When considering Utah’s size up front, using bigger running backs such as redshirt senior Colson Yankoff or redshirt junior Anthony Adkins could be beneficial to the squad, especially given its struggles Saturday.

When the pieces aren’t working – like they weren’t on Saturday – the best teams are able to rotate out players and utilize their depth to obtain different results. Instead of trying the same thing unsuccessfully, the Bruins cannot afford to shy away from putting someone else in the game, even for a snap.

Rome wasn’t built in a day

Saturday was not the Bruins’ best game ever.

It wouldn’t even fall within the top 100. They lost and were barely able to find the end zone. There were a number of faults on both sides of their play.

But, this game was not entirely a step backward. Offensively, 2023 is something of a rebuilding year. The Bruins are being led by an 18-year old signal caller, the freshman was playing his first Pac-12 game ever and it just so happened to be against the team that most recently won the conference championship.

It would’ve been unreasonable to assume that the pressure and environment wouldn’t rattle him even a little.

And just because UCLA took down Utah in a powerful showing last season, it didn’t mean it was going to be able to pull off the same feat Saturday.

This is a new team, one wearing the same jerseys, but with new faces under the helmets.

Moore is not the only addition. Transfers fill the spots of UCLA’s new top offensive players, the offensive line is very different from last season and a new defensive coordinator is leading the defense. These pieces take time to all come together.

Yes, they pulled off three successful wins in the nonconference slate, but ranked Pac-12 opponents on the road are different.

The Saturday loss was not ideal for UCLA’s record or ranking hopes, but it doesn’t mean that Moore won’t be able to find his stride eventually. There are still eight games remaining, and now, the team knows what to expect.