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UCLA holds on for 42-35 win over Memphis

UCLA receiver Kenneth Walker III celebrates with teammate Thomas Duarte (18) after making a touchdown catch against Memphis in the first quarter.
UCLA receiver Kenneth Walker III celebrates with teammate Thomas Duarte (18) after making a touchdown catch against Memphis in the first quarter.
(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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UCLA dropped four spots in the Associated Press media poll after an opening win over Virginia.

The Bruins were No. 11 this week after opening at No. 7.

Who knows where they’ll land after having to hold on for a 42-35 win over Memphis on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.

Coach Jim Mora comes from the defensive side of coaching, and he can’t be happy with a Bruins defense that gave up 469 yards and four touchdowns.

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UCLA’s offense, which managed only one touchdown against Virginia in a 28-20 victory, got into gear, though. The Bruins had 540 yards of offense.

Quarterback Brett Hundley completed 33 of 44 passes for 396 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Thomas Duarte and Jordan Payton each surpassed 100 yards in receiving. Duarte caught four passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns. Payton made seven catches for 104 yards.

Paul Perkins rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns in 23 carries.

Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch completed 27 of 41 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown.

Memphis had a last chance to tie the score, driving as far as the UCLA 44 before time ran out.

Here’s a running summary of the game:

Third-and-15 play for Memphis and a pass interference call on UCLA’s Priest Willis gives the Tigers a first down at midfield.

However, Eric Kendricks comes up with a big sack and the Bruins end up forcing Memphis to punt with a little more than two minutes to play.

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However, the punt goes out at the UCLA 7, and the Bruins will have to operate from there.

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The Bruins are really flirting with disaster here. After being pinned on their own eight-yard line, running back Paul Perkins lost three yards on first down to get even closer to a safety. But on third down, a Brett Hundley pass to Jordan Payton got the first down and some breathing room.

And a minute later, Hundley almost had a ball intercepted. UCLA punted, and Memphis has a chance to tie.

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The absurdity ended up not mattering too much. Memphis couldn’t get another first down, and now UCLA has the ball back on its own eight-yard line with 7:13 left.

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What a swing of events.

Memphis tried a fake punt deep in its own zone, and surprsingly, it didn’t work. UCLA originally though it had returned a fumbled ball for a touchdown, which would have given the Bruins a two-touchdown lead.

But linebacker Kenny Orjioke got called for a 15-yard personal foul for hands to the face, which gave Memphis the ball back. On replay, the call looked, how do you say, questionable. After a lengthy review, which showed that it was an incomplete pass, the play stood. Now the Tigers have the ball near midfield with a chance to tie the game.

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UCLA 42, Memphis 35 (10:52 left in fourth quarter)

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Big score for UCLA. Brett Hundley lofted a 33-yard rainbow right into Thomas Duarte’s hands, who was wide open in the end zone. That’s Duarte’s second touchdown catch of the game, and Hundley’s third touchdown pass. He’s also thrown for 380 yards.

Earlier in the drive, Hundley escaped a sack, but his scramble was a yard short of the first down. UCLA went for it on fourth down, bringing in linebacker/running back Myles Jack, who gained just enough for the first down.

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Whatever big expectations that were placed on this team before the season have to have disapparated by this point. Even if the Bruins win this game, it’s not a good sign for the rest of the season. There has been no pass rush, poor tackling and seven penalties from a lackluster looking UCLA team. Just not a good effort all around.

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UCLA 35, Memphis 35 (13:44 left in fourth quarter)

I don’t know how to accurately display this over a keyboard, but MEMPHIS JUST TIED THE GAME. Brett Hundley telegraphed a pass right to Memphis safety Fritz Etienne, who intercepted the ball and waltzed into the end zone. It’s a tie game with 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Again, Memphis lost to the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee last season. Wow.

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UCLA 35, Memphis 28 (14:21 left in fourth quarter)

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And, Memphis is within a touchdown. Tigers running back Doroland Dorceus cut through the heart of UCLA’s defense and sprinted down the sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.

Yes, UCLA is up by only one touchdown to a Memphis team that lost to the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee last season.

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At the beginning of the fourth quarter, UCLA’s announced attendance is 72,098. Pretty big number considering it’s Memphis, it was very hot today, and school isn’t in session yet.

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A three-and-out for UCLA. Brett Hundley was sacked on third down after fumbling and recovering the snap.

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The Bruins looked like they were going to force another three-and-out, but Memphis completed a 15-yard pass on third down to keep the drive alive. The Tigers then completed a 18-yard pass, which was coincidentally their 18th first down of the game. For who knows what reason, Memphis decided to call a draw on third-and-ten, which set up a 50-yard field goal. Tiger kicker Jake Elliott was three-for-three in his career on field goal attempts of 50 or more yars, but this attempt was missed wide left and wasn’t all that close. UCLA still leads 35-21 with two minutes left in the third quarter.

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A note on how efficient Hundley has been this game: 10 Bruin wide receivers have caught passes tonight. 10!

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UCLA 35, Memphis 21 (4:51 left in third quarter)

Considering the way UCLA’s defense is playing, getting a score here was important. Jordan Payton picked up a nice 18-yard completion, then Eldridge Massington snagged another first-down reception. With the Bruins in the red zone, Paul Perkins chipped away on a couple runs. Then, linebacker/running back Myles Jack got the ball on the four-yard line and just burrowed his way into the end zone. It looked like he was going to be down at the line of scrimmage, but Jack never stopped churning his legs.

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Memphis can’t get the ball past the 50-yard line and punts again. 9:57 left in the third quarter, and UCLA is going to get a chance to open the score up a little bit.

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In UCLA’s first drive of the second half, Hundley fumbled the ball on third down, picked it up, and almost scrambled past the marker. Almost is the operative word here, though, and UCLA is forced to punt with 13 minutes left in the third quarter.

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As the second half resumes, a UCLA spokesman announced that safety Randall Goforth is out for the rest of the game with a shoulder injury. He initially suffered a shoulder injury in training camp. This is not a good sign for a secondary that has struggled in this game so far.

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UCLA 28, Memphis 21 (halftime)

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This is not exactly what UCLA was hoping for in the first half. The offense is playing well, totaling 326 yards and 28 points, while quarterback Brett Hundley is 21 for 27 and has thrown for 241 yards and two touchdowns.

But defensively, the Bruins are getting torched. Memphis is getting yards on the ground, through the air, to the sidelines and up the middle. The Tigers have racked up 310 yards. The Bruins are getting no defensive pressure and are having serious tackling issues.

UCLA is winning, but Coach Jim Mora can’t be happy about the way his team looks as a whole.

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They’re trying to score. Brett Hundley got UCLA past midfield, and then dropped a beauty of a rainbow pass in the end zone for Devin Fuller. The wide reciever dove but couldn’t hang on. The ball probably should have been caught, and UCLA missed a touchdown by about six inches.

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Well, Memphis would have had a first down, but wide reciever Sam Craft dropped a ball in the middle of the field. With 90 seconds left in the first half, let’s see if the Bruins try and score. They have all three timeouts and will start the drive on their own 18-yard line.

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UCLA gains six yards and then has to punt. The boos are definitely present, even in this noise-sealed press box.

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UCLA 28, Memphis 21 (3:04 left in the second quarter)

Memphis follows a 30-yard pass with a 33-yard completion, then two plays later, sets up a perfect screen pass for a touchdown. Fans are booing after the four play, 85-yard drive. There was nobody near Tigers running back Brandon Hayes on the 18-yard touchdown pass. UCLA’s offense has looked good, and the defense has looked lethargic. Almost a complete reversal from last week.

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UCLA 28, Memphis 14 (4:39 left in the second quarter)

Brett Hundley is having a heck of a first half. He’s completed 18 of 20 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns. On this drive, he completed a 52-yard pass to Thomas Duarte. The next play, Paul Perkins blasted into the end zone for UCLA’s fourth touchdown of the game. The Bruins also coverted the two-point conversion, which nullifies the earlier missed PAT.

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Not to pick on Fabian Moreau, but again, the cornerback is beat by a wide receiver. By my unofficial count, that’s the fifth catch he’s allowed this game. On third down, Kenny Clark stopped Memphis’ quarterback Paxton Lynch well short of the marker, and the Bruins got a much needed stop with seven minutes to play in the second quarter.

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UCLA just handed out a press release saying that Troy Aikman is going to have his number retired. The ceremony will take place when the Bruins host Stanford at the Rose Bowl on November 28, the day after Thanksgiving. As if that big wasn’t big enough already.

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UCLA 20, Memphis 14 (9:46 left in the second quarter)

Another facemask penalty on Memphis gave UCLA very good field position to start the drive, then yet another facemask pushed the Bruins into the red zone. Hundley fired another great pass right into the hands of Thomas Duarte, who dived into the end zone for the touchdown. Hundley has now thrown for 95 yards and two touchdowns in the half, while Memphis has five penalties for 75 yards.

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Memphis 14, UCLA 13 (10:39 left in the second quarter)

Memphis continues to rip UCLA with inside screens, inside runs, and dump passes. It also doesn’t help that the Bruins are missing tackles, and in the case of freshman Jacob Tuioti-Mariner, getting run over. Memphis got to within sniffing distance of field-goal range, and then converted a fourth-down chance to keep the drive alive.

A mental mistake near the goal line saw the Bruins earns a penalty for 12 men on the field. Two plays later, Memphis scored on a seven-yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead.

Yes, because of a missed PAT, the Tigers are beating the Bruins in the second quarter.

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Because it’s a TV timeout, UCLA has this video on the big screen where they have Bruins show off their cheesiest dance moves.

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Thomas Duarte won easily, for those who were dying to know.

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UCLA 13, Memphis 7 (0:09 left in the first quarter)

Ishmael Adams did a great job of setting up the UCLA offense by taking a kickoff and returning it 38 yards. On the next play, Brett Hundley let a perfect bomb off down the field to Kenneth Walker III for the wide receiver’s first career touchdown.

There was a flag on the play, but it was on Memphis, and the 62-yard touchdown pass stands. It was Hundley’s best throw of the young season, by far.

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Memphis 7, UCLA 6 (0:25 left in the first quarter)

Memphis scored the same way that UCLA did -- lots of runs down the middle and short passes to the outside. The Tigers scored on an eight-yard quarterback keeper down the middle, and their kicker actually made the point-after.

So, Memphis is now beating UCLA after a 10-play, 75-yard drive. Can’t say we saw this coming.

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Fabian Moreau was beat twice by a Memphis wide receiver on this drive, once on a slant and once on a jump ball.

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UCLA 6, Memphis 0 (4:17 left in the first quarter)

UCLA spent its second drive of the game methodically burrowing through Memphis’ defense for a touchdown.

Brett Hundley had a nice little 10-yard scamper for a first down after being freed on a huge block from running back Jordon James. A Memphis penalty earned another first down, and a 13-yard run from Paul Perkins earned another.

Hundley ran for another first down, then Perkins burst up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown run.

He finished with 37 total yards on the drive, and UCLA is on the board first after a 12-play, 71-yard drive. Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed the extra point, though.

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Memphis earns its first first down of the game on a 28-yard pass down the sideline, but that gain was quickly negated by an offensive facemask penalty two plays later. On third-and-22, the Tigers called a timeout, and was forced to punt after an 11-yard run with eight minutes left in the first quarter.

Also, UCLA’s opponent next week, Texas, is losing 34-7 to Brigham Young. Sort of takes the glamour out of next week’s matchup.

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Reminder: If you have questions or want to talk about the game (or about life, I guess), I’m at everett.cook@latimes.com and on Twitter @everettcook.

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UCLA is really pushing the tempo on its first drive. Short passes, runs to the outside, and not much time spent lollygagging in between plays. Also, first Myles Jack in at running back sighting of the season. He ran the ball for one yard, then left the field.

On second and nine, Brett Hundley took his first sack of the game, setting up a 3-and-15 situation. The quarterback completed a short, short pass on third down, but UCLA lost three yards and had to punt with nine minutes left in the first quarter.

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Starting center Jake Brendel is back in the lineup for the Bruins. He started 27 straight games before missing last week’s win over Virginia with a sprained left knee and is one of UCLA’s most important offensive players.

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On the first play of the game, cornerback Fabian Moreau was beat on an inside post, but a Memphis wide receiver dropped the ball. Memphis gained nine yards on third down, but was forced to punt.

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Here are some Pac-12 score updates:

Arizona State is up 45-21 on New Mexico at the end of the third quarter.

Oregon is walloping Michigan State, 46-27, in the fourth quarter.

Colorado barely beat Massachusetts on the road, Utah destroyed Fresno State, Cal smacked Sacramento State, Washington squeaked by Eastern Washington at home, and, of course, USC beat Stanford on the road.

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Remember when I said that it would be cooler here by kickoff? Temperature was just announced as 91 degrees.

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Fifteen minutes to kick, and the Rose Bowl is not exactly at capacity. I’m horrible at guessing these things, but it can’t be more than half-full in here right now. There seemed to be a decent amount of people tailgating in the parking lots, so maybe it’s just taking people a while to mosy on in.

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It looks like starting center Jake Brendel is warming up with the first team offense right now. It’s not a lock that he’s going to play, but it’s certainly a good sign for UCLA.

The Bruin who started at center last weekend, Scott Quessenberry, is warming up as the starting guard, in place of freshman NaJee Toran.

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Greetings from the Rose Bowl, where we’re on hand for UCLA’s home opener against Memphis. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and we’ll be updating this story with analysis and other Rose Bowl happenenings all night long.

If you have any questions that you want to see answered here, please email me at everett.cook@latimes.com or ask away on Twitter, @everettcook.

I can’t promise I’ll answer everyone -- I’m only one man with one keyboard -- but I’ll do my best.

In terms of the crowd, the gates to the Rose Bowl opened at 1 p.m., and fans started tailgating soon after. It’s a warm day in Pasadena, around 90-95 degrees for much of the afternoon, but there were still plenty of RVs, tables and tents set up in the parking lots.

The temperature shouldn’t be a factor by kickoff, and I’m sure the fans had plenty of chilled, non-alcoholic beverages to keep cool. Rose Bowl officials are estimating 60,000 fans, but we’ll see how many actually make the trip.

Let’s open this up to beat writer Chris Foster, who has been covering this team for just a touch longer than I have. Chris, after a long week of questions about the offensive line, how do you think that unit is going to hold up tonight?

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Chris Foster: It would be hard for the offensive line to be worse, unless that’s their goal. I doubt that any of those guys will be putting on their resume those five sacks and five false-start penalties against Virginia. Since center Jake Brendel is iffy tonight, it will be the same five guys.

Why things should be better this week is Scott Quessenberry and Najee Toran have a game under their belts. Quessenberry made his first start at center last week. Toran, a freshman, was playing in his first collegiate game. Add to that the heavy hand of offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, who called the Virginia performance the worst he had seen as a player or coach. Memphis does not look to be as formidable as Virginia.

Everett Cook: Not to pile on Memphis, but the Tigers don’t look to be as formidable as most Division-1 football teams, much less Virginia. They were 99th in the country last year in passing yards allowed, and haven’t beaten a team from one of the five power conferences in 17 consecutive games. So, I think that this is quarterback Brett Hundley’s make or break game to keep his Heisman Trophy candidacy going strong. One mediocre game against a mediocre opponent is fine, but two is going to be hard to overcome.

Chris, agree or disagree?

CF: It’s a long season. No one was thinking Jameis Winston two games into the 2013 season. Hundley had such preseason publicity that he is already on the mind of voters. Oregon, Oct. 11 in the Rose Bowl, that’s when he can make his Heisman pitch.

As for Memphis, you go to that city to eat ribs, not watch big-time college football.

EC: Fair enough. Regardless, it’s not a good sign if Hundley strugges to put up big numbers tonight. Any other offensive players you think need to have bigger games than they did against Virginia? Maybe wide receiever Devin Lucien or running back Jordan James?

CF: If I had to pick a couple guys tonight it would be receivers Thomas Duarte and Devin Fuller. Duarte had a rough first game, with a couple of drops. But he missed most of training camp with hamstring issues. He has good hands and positions his big body well. Fuller is always a threat. Watch for UCLA to drag him over the middle, trying to get him matched with a linebacker.

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EC: Last thing: In terms of points scored, it’s hard to imagine the Bruins defense topping the 21 they scored against Virginia. But UCLA also got beat on some deep balls in the second half after the Cavaliers switched quarterbacks, to the point where UCLA needed a big fourth-down stop by linebacker Myles Jack to win the game. Where do you think the defense needs to improve the most tonight?

CF: They need to get to the quarterback. They did not have a sack against Virginia. The one time they really got to the QB, Owamagbe Odighizuwa got his hands on the ball, resulting in an interception that was returned for a touchdown. The Bruins did not blitz much last week. They should do a little more tonight. But it’s a nonconference game. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich won’t put anything on the game tape for Pac-12 opponents to peruse.

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