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UCLA needs double overtime to defeat Colorado, 40-37

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You didn’t think this was going to be easy, did you?

The Bruins have had a tendency to play down to their opponents’ level this season, and have had several unnecessarily close games. The scenario played out again Saturday in a 40-37 victory in double overtime against Colorado in Boulder.

UCLA (6-2 overall, 3-2 in Pac-12 Conference play) never trailed, but with a chance to seal the game late in the fourth quarter, the Bruins couldn’t earn a yard on fourth down. Colorado (2-6, 0-5) got the ball back with a little more than two minutes left in the game and tied the score, 31-31, on a 35-yard field goal by Will Oliver.

The two teams traded field goals in the first overtime before Oliver converted his third field goal of the game, this time from 34 yards, to put the Buffaloes ahead, 37-34. UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley then ran untouched into the end zone on an eight-yard run in double overtime.

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The heroics wouldn’t have been necessary if not for a huge Colorado blunder to end the first half. After Hundley fumbled the ball, the Buffs had a great chance to score before halftime and get within a touchdown. They drove down the field, but then failed miserably in the red zone. With the clock running down, quarterback Sefo Liufau kept trying to audible at the line of scrimmage instead of spiking the ball.

Colorado Coach Mike MacIntyre jumped up and down on the sidelines, screaming for Liufau to spike the ball. But the quarterback waited until there was one second left on the clock before a false start penalty ended the half. So instead of scoring a touchdown and getting within a field goal going into halftime, Colorado had a 10-point deficit.

Offensively, the Bruins rode Paul Perkins. The redshirt sophomore had a heck of a game on the ground, but UCLA refused to feed him the ball regularly. At halftime, he had 143 yards and two touchdowns in nine carries, which was bolstered by a 92-yard touchdown run. He finished the game with 180 yards in 19 carries.

Hundley had another inconsistent game. He finished with 200 yards passing and 110 yards rushing while totaling two touchdowns, but he struggled with his long-range accuracy and fumbled the ball.

Defensively, UCLA did a nice job of bottling up Colorado wide receiver Nelson Spruce, statistically the best wide receiver in the nation. He came into the game averaging more than 10 receptions and 110 yards a game, but the Bruins held him to six catches for 63 yards.

UCLA has spent its entire season playing down to its competition. Colorado doesn’t have a win in the Pac-12, and UCLA needed double overtime to beat the Buffaloes. Easy, right?

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Colorado 37, UCLA 34 (second overtime)

Colorado kicks another field goal. UCLA can win with a touchdown.

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UCLA 34, Colorado 34 (first overtime)

Colorado goes three and out, and also goes for the field goal. We’re going to double overtime.

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UCLA 34, Colorado 34 (first overtime)

Jordan Payton picked up a huge first down on third down, which put UCLA in good position to score. But Colorado linebacker Kenneth Olugbode made two huge plays in a row, so UCLA was stuck to just the field goal. Colorado can win this game with a touchdown.

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UCLA is getting the ball first in overtime. Let’s get weird.

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Brett Hundley can’t lead a comeback. We’re going to overtime.

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UCLA 31, Colorado 31 (0:36 left in the fourth quarter)

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Colorado ties the game up at 31 with a 35-yard field goal.

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The Bruins were almost saved by a roughing the passer penalty. They were about to have to punt, but the infraction gave them a fresh set of downs. But the Bruins couldn’t convert on the next third down, and then were stuffed on fourth down. Colorado has a chance to take the lead here.

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Another huge play from Marcus Rios. He snagged an interception on the first play of this Colorado drive, giving UCLA the ball back and a chance to extned this lead. What a revelation he’s been in the last couple weeks.

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And UCLA gives the ball back after an incredibly weak offensive series. Wow. Colorado is going to have a chance to take the lead here.

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UCLA 31, Colorado 28 (7:52 left in the fourth quarter)

UCLA needed a stop on third down, and instead gave up a 28-yard pass to receiver Nelson Spruce. A few plays later, Bryce Bobo caught his second touchdown pass of the game, and we’ve got ourselves a ball game.

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Because it’s UCLA and nothing comes easy for this team, somehow this is becoming a game. The Bruins couldn’t get the ball moving and were forced to punt, giving the Buffs a chance to sneak back into this.

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Trialing by 10, Colorado is starting a drive at their 36-yard line. If the Buffs score here, we’ve got ourselves a ballgame.

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UCLA 31, Colorado 21 (12:59 left in the fourth quarter)

That was a huge swing. Colorado had a drive stall near midfield, but elected to go for it on fourth down. Receiver Bryce Bobo found an opening in the zone defense, and raced down the field untouched for a 38-yard touchdown. Anthony Jefferson appeared to be the culprit on defense.

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UCLA 31, Colorado 14 (1:22 left in the third quarter)

UCLA was struggling to move the ball, but was helped out by a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Colorado for taunting. That finally got the Bruin offense going, and Brett Hundley had a nice run to set the Bruins up in the red zone. Myles Jack got the ball near the goal line, and barreled in for the score

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Hey! Colorado got a first down! That’s new.

They then came short of another conversion and punted. These two teams have already combined for 14 punts.

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UCLA has another three and out. Brett Hundley tried to scramble on third down and was well short.

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Colorado has another three and out.

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More penalties and stalled drives. UCLA now has nine penalties for 86 yards, and can’t get the ball moving at all. Did I mention this was a slow second half?

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And, Colorado does much of the same. Another short drive, another punt. You could say the second half has been a little slow.

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UCLA starts the second half off with the ball, and tried a backward pass to Ishmael Adams on the kickoff return. It didn’t do much.

The drive also didn’t do much. A quick three and out will give Colorado the ball back.

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Some halftime stats: Brett Hundley has completed 10 of his 19 pass attempts for 105 yards and a touchdown. He hasn’t been bad, but isn’t getting a ton of accuracy on his throws and also turned the ball over on an avoidable fumble.

The workhorse of this offense, Paul Perkins, continues to carry this team. He’s totaled 143 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.

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Colorado’s best offensive player, Nelson Spruce, has been limited to two catches for 12 yards. UCLA’s done a good job of limiting one of the best recievers in the Pac-12 so far today.

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Every Brett Hundley turnover this season has been turned into points by the opposition. That is insane.

Colorado should have done the same thing after recovering his fumble, but did a horrible job of managing the clock toward the end zone. Instead of spiking the ball, almost 20 seconds ran off the clock, and a false start penalty ended the half. UCLA is lucky the Buffs didn’t score there. What horrible game management.

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Brett Hundley can’t hang onto the football. He fumbled once two weeks ago, twice last week, and then just got the ball stripped on a scramble attempt. The turnover is going to give Colorado a great chance to keep this game close going into the locker room.

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UCLA 24, Colorado 14 (1:46 left in the second quarter)

This was a weird drive. UCLA had two potential turnovers taken away by penalties. The first was when it looked like Ishmael Adams came up with a big interception, but was instead called for a pass interference penalty. The next play, Myles Jack reached up for an incredible one-handed interception, but that play was called back due to defensive holding. The kicker is that the holding call was also on Adams.

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So instead of two turnovers, the Bruins were handed two costly penalties. Colorado turned those two big penalties into its second touchdown of the game, this time on a 17-yard rush by Micha Adkins.

UCLA already has eight penalties for 71 yards. That’s not good.

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UCLA 24, Colorado 7 (4:48 left in the second quarter)

Since kicking the field goal that gave them the 17-0, the Bruins have struggled to move the ball. That is, until this drive, when Brett Hundley threw the ball all over the field and Paul Perkins continued to add to his huge yardage total. The 24-yard scoring scamper gives him 143 yards and two touchowns in the game, and the score keeps UCLA firmly in the driver’s seat of this game. Perkins has done all that on just nine carries. He should probably have more than nine carries.

With Thomas Duarte being held out of the game with a hamstring injury, Mossi Johnson is getting a ton of playing time. He made a nice play for a first down on this drive, but also dropped a pass. The true freshman is leading UCLA with three catches for 33 yards this game.

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UCLA 17, Colorado 7 (6:12 left in the second quarter)

Here’s a little sign of life from Colorado’s offense. After punting five times in the first 18 minutes of game play, the Buffs finally put a scoring drive together. The Bruins forced a stop on third and goal, but Ellis McCarthy got called for roughing the passer. The costly penalty gave Colorado a fresh chance to score, and Tony Jones punched the ball in two plays later.

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The other big play was a 27-yard run from Jones, who broke a couple tackles to get Colorado into scoring position.

It’s only the second quarter, and UCLA already been called for five penalties for 41 total yards, none bigger than McCarthy’s.

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Brett Hundley is struggling with accuracy right now. He’s missed on deep throws, and couldn’t finish a pass down the sideline that would have extended this drive. After scoring 17 points in the first 11 minutes of the game, UCLA’s offense has fizzled a little.

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New quarter, same Colorado offense. The Buffs started this drive from deep in their own red zone and picke up some solid yards, but eventually had to punt for the fifth time already. Five punts in 18 minutes of game play is not exactly a winning formula.

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Brett Hundley is running the ball well and completing short passes, but has been missing on the long ball consistently. Missing by a lot, actually. The Bruins couldn’t convert on a third and 20, so UCLA ends the first quarter with a 17 point lead.

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Fabian Moreau is already having one of the better games of his season. He had a tackle behind the line earlier, and on this drive, he played Colorado star Nelson Spruce perfectly on a pass down the sideline. The Bruins forced another punt, Colorado’s fourth of the game. The Bruins really couldn’t have started this game off any better.

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UCLA 17, Colorado 0 (4:00 left in the first quarter)

UCLA couldn’t get the first down, but Ka’imi Fairbairn made sure the Bruins capitalized on the Eric Kendricks interception with points. His 31-yard field goal made this a three score game.

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Eric Kendricks is having a heck of a game. He’s made two huge third down stops, and then ended this Colorado drive early with an interception. UCLA has a great chance to extend this big lead early.

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UCLA 14, Colorado 0 (5:22 left in the first quarter)

Brett Hundley had Mossi Johnson open deep down the field, but overthrew him badly. Hundley found Devin Fuller on a crossing route on third down, though, which gave the Bruins a big first down. On UCLA’s next third down, he found Johnson for the conversion.

Two plays later, Hundley found Jordan Payton in the middle of the field. Payton is strong enough that it’s hard to tackle him in the open field, so he barreled his way into the end zone fairly easily. UCLA is playing well so far.

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Hey, Fabian Moreau. The cornerback left last week’s game with a stinger, but made a huge tackle on second down to drop Colorado for a big loss. The Buffs couldn’t convert the long third down and will be punting for the third time this game.

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The answer to that question was no. Perkins and the rest of the UCLA offense got stuffed on third and short, so the Bruins were forced to punt. Pretty miserable blocking on that failed conversion.

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The first play of this Colorado drive started with a wide receiver reverse pass. If receiver Shay Fields threw that ball a little more accurately, that might have been a touchdown. But another nice play by Eric Kendricks on third down stopped this drive near midfield. The Bruins get the ball on the 20 yard lin. Let’s see if Paul Perkins can rip off anohter huge run.

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UCLA 7, Colorado 0 (12:47 left in the first quarter)

UCLA’s starting offensive line is the same as last week, and so far, it’s worked out. The Bruins started this drive off with a penalty, but then Paul Perkins took the ball and bullied through a nice hole in the left side of the line. The 92-yard score gives the Bruin the early lead, and is the second longest touchdown run in UCLA history. You can’t start a game off better than that.

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It’s 75 degrees at kickoff. Colorado starts this game with the ball, and went down quietly. Eric Kendricks made a nice tackle on a third down screen pass, and now UCLA will get the ball with a chance to take an early lead.

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Some injury updates: Offensive lineman Alex Redmond and Simon Goines are both going through warmups, but not with the first team. The starting offensive line appears to be the same as last week, which means Redmond and Goines still aren’t ready to go.

Wide receiver Thomas Duarte is on the field, but not warming up. Looks like the hamstring injury he suffered against Cal is going to hold him out of this game.

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UCLA should beat Colorado handidly, but then again, they should’ve rolled over Cal last weekend and a few nonconference opponents before that. It’s been written about over and over again, but this team has played down to its competition all season. So this game is important not just because the Bruins need a win to stay alive in the race for a Pac-12 championship, but also to see if they can string together a solid performance against an underwhelming opponent.

Colorado is 2-5 this season, having lost all four of its conference games and also dropping to Colorado State in August. The Buffaloes have a solid pass defense, statistically, but allow 176 rushing yards per game. For comparison’s sake, Stanford allows just a tick over 100 rushing yards per game.

Offensively, Colorado’s biggest weapon is Nelson Spruce. There isn’t a close second. Spruce leads the Pac-12 in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He’s the real deal, and is going to be a big test for the Bruins. It will be interesting to see if defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich sticks Anthony Jefferson on Spruce, or whether or not it will be more of a comittee aprroach.

Something else to ponder: UCLA has won seven consecutive games away from the Rose Bowl. It is the second longest winning streak away from home (Rose Bowl, Coliseum) in team history. The Bruins won 10 consecutive games away from home in 1997-98, ending with the traumatic loss at Miami that lost UCLA a spot in the national title games.

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I am not in Boulder today, but reporter Chris Foster is on scene this morning and says that it’s sunny and in the low 80s. That sums up like 90% of days in Colorado, but it’s certainly not bad football weather.

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