ASU Football: No. 24 Arizona State vs. UCLA Instant Recap

UCLA (3-5, 3-2 Pac-12) put on a show in the Rose Bowl against No. 24 Arizona State (5-3, 2-3) on Saturday. The Bruins sent the Sun Devils home with a 42-32 loss.

Running back Eno Benjamin fumbled on the Sun Devils first possession, on Arizona State’s side of the field. UCLA responded with five straight run plays. Bruin running back Joshua Kelley scored from a yard out for the first score.

UCLA turned it over on its second drive. Defensive lineman George Lea sacked Bruin quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson at UCLA’s four-yard line. Cornerback Chase Lucas recovered Thompson-Robinson’s fumble. Sun Devil quarterback Jayden Daniels snuck it in for a touchdown a few plays later to tie the game at 7.

Kelley had a five-yard touchdown before the end of the first quarter. The Bruins used a 16-play drive to take back the lead. They picked up a fourth down as part of the drive, but it wasn’t the biggest play. On third-and-13 Thompson-Robinson threw to wide receiver Chase Cota, at first Cota was ruled out of bounds. The call was overturned to keep the Bruins’ drive alive before the touchdown.

Kelley earned his third score in the second quarter. The Sun Devil defense continued to struggle to get off the field, as the the Bruins had another 16-play scoring drive. Kelley broke a tackle before trotting in from 16 yards out. Arizona State appeared to have a stop again, but a roughing the passer call on linebacker Khaylan Kearse-Thomas on a third down kept the Bruins going.

The Sun Devils went for it on fourth down before the half. They didn’t get it and the UCLA offense went back to work. Thompson-Robinson led the Bruins down the field for another touchdown. He found wide receiver Kyle Phillips in the corner of the end zone from the 20-yard line. UCLA went into halftime up 28-7.

Thompson-Robinson scrambled away from a sack to find wide receiver Ethan Fernea for 29 yards to get UCLA inside the red zone. Kelley then plowed himself into the end zone for his fourth touchdown of the game.

Daniels made two big time throws on the next drive for the Sun Devils. He rolled to his right to get it to wide receiver Kyle Williams for 41 yards. Daniels then found wide receiver Frank Darby for a third down conversation to put the Sun Devils inside the red zone. A unsportsmenlike penalty on Benjamin backed up the Sun Devils. They’d settle for a 30-yard field goal from kicker Cristian Zendejas.

After its first punt, UCLA forced a three-and-out to get the ball back. And the scoring continued. Phillips’ punt return setup good field position. Thompson-Robinson appeared to have no one open on a play before finding tight end Devin Asiasi by himself for the touchdown to go up 42-10 in the third quarter.

The Sun Devils forced another fumble from Thompson-Robinson. A few plays after the turnover, Daniels hit Darby on an out route, Darby broke a tackle and walked in for the score.

The Sun Devils forced another punt. They got good field position after a solid return from Aiyuk. Daniels found tight end Nolan Matthews for his first career touchdown. Daniels then run it in on the two-point conversation to make it 42-25.

UCLA fumbled again late in the fourth quarter. Again Arizona State got points out of it. Daniels found Darby for a 27-yard touchdown to close the gap to 10. But it was too little, too late after that.

ASU passing leader: Daniels 20-29, 271 YDS, 3 TD

UCLA passing leader: Thompson-Robinson 16-23, 176 YDS, 2 TD

ASU rushing leader: Daniels 13 RUSH, 67 YDS, TD

UCLA rushing leader: Kelley 34 RUSH, 164 YDS, 4 TD

ASU receiving leader: Darby 6 REC, 110 YDS, 2 TD

UCLA receiving leader: Fernea 3 REC, 45 YDS