UCLA vs. Oregon: Chip Kelly takes on his former team

Too many mistakes.

An error-filled evening doomed UCLA during a 42-21 loss to Oregon at Autzen Stadium on Saturday night in Chip Kelly’s return to his old stadium.

There were penalties, dropped passes, missed tackles and special teams breakdowns galore for the Bruins, who fell to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-12 Conference.

Kelly has absorbed as many losses in his first season at UCLA as he did in four years with Oregon. More worrisome, the Bruins don’t seem to be progressing, with the mistakes stuck on repeat.

From ugly to hideous.

Things couldn’t get much worse for UCLA after Oregon’s Tony Brooks-James sprinted 54 yards through the heart of the Bruins defense to give the Ducks a 42-21 lead with 5:56 left in the game.

UCLA coach Chip Kelly is about to get his seventh loss with the Bruins, as many as he had in four seasons with the Ducks.

It’s somehow just a two-touchdown game, but UCLA is running out of time.

Bruins quarterback Wilton Speight connected with Theo Howard on an 11-yard touchdown pass to pull the Bruins within 35-21 midway through the fourth quarter.

We’ll see if UCLA tries another onside kick, after the first one failed.

Now it’s really getting ugly.

UCLA completely botched a field-goal attempt, giving the ball back to Oregon. Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert then connected with Dillon Mitchell on a 67-yard touchdown in which Mitchell caught the ball around the Bruins’ seven-yard line, slipped a tackle from Darnay Holmes and ran into the end zone to give Oregon a 35-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The comedy of errors went to new heights only moments before when the Bruins lined up for a field goal with kicker J.J. Molson nowhere in sight. Holder Matt Lynch held out his arms, wondering why Molson wasn’t behind him, before the kicker trotted onto the field at the last moment.

But the snap was high and Lynch had to take off running before being tackled well short of the first down.

UCLA has a new quarterback after an injury, but its old, reliable running back continues to come through.

Joshua Kelley’s 25-yard touchdown run shaved the Bruins’ deficit to 28-14 late in the third quarter. Kelley has run for 132 yards in 19 carries, putting him over the 100-yard mark for the fifth time in his last six games.

Wilton Speight replaced Dorian Thompson-Robinson at quarterback after Thompson-Robinson was hurt on the play in which he was sacked and lost the ball earlier this quarter.

UCLA tried an onside kick after its latest touchdown but the Ducks recovered.

The blunders continue to pile up for UCLA.

Shortly after Bruins safety Adarius Pickett had stuffed Oregon on a fourth-down play, giving the ball back to his team, UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson had the ball stripped and the Ducks recovered at the Bruins’ seven-yard line.

A pass interference penalty on UCLA’s Darnay Holmes gave Oregon a first down at the one and Cyrus Habibi-Likio extended the ball over the goal line on the next play to increase the Ducks’ lead to 28-7.

Thompson-Robinson was slow in getting up after getting sacked on the play in which he lost the ball.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson shrugged off a fairly brutal start to complete both of his passes on UCLA’s last drive.

That was all the Bruins needed to score a touchdown, which came on Thompson-Robinson’s 63-yard strike over the middle to tight end Caleb Wilson that pulled UCLA to within 21-7 against Oregon midway through the second quarter.

It was dual redemption after Thompson-Robinson struggled mightily with his touch in the early going and Wilson dropped a pass. Thompson-Robinson has now completed three of 10 passes for 88 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

UCLA’s special teams aren’t so special. Unless you’re an Oregon Ducks fan.

The Bruins imploded for a second time Saturday when Adarius Pickett dropped his second punt in as many weeks, giving Oregon the ball at UCLA’s 11-yard line.

The Ducks eventually scored on Justin Herbert’s four-yard pass to Dillon Mitchell to take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Pickett held his head in his hands before getting up, upset with himself.

Oregon also returned a punt for a 56-yard touchdown. On the bright side, UCLA’s special teams haven’t committed any of the Bruins’ four penalties.

Oregon used a Chip Kelly-esque play to score its second touchdown.

The Ducks lined up for a 46-yard field goal before holder Blake Maimone took the snap and rolled out, connecting with tight end Jacob Breeland. UCLA linebacker Krys Barnes was in position to make the tackle short of the first down but couldn’t and Breeland took the pass for a 28-yard gain to the Bruins’ one-yard line.

C.J. Verdell plowed into the end zone on the next play to give UCLA a 14-0 lead. To make matters worse, Bruins linebacker Keisean Lucier-South was hurt on the play.

UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson had helped the Bruins reach the Oregon 14-yard line on the previous drive but had a third-down pass intercepted in the end zone, giving the ball back to the Ducks.

Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert and receiver Dillon Mitchell, both in concussion protocol earlier in the week, showed they were just fine on a 49-yard connection that preceded the trick play.

Chip Kelly’s return to Autzen Stadium got off to a rocky start.

Not long after Oregon fans cheered their former coach when he was welcomed back by the P.A. announcer, the Ducks roared even louder for one of their own.

Ugochukwu Amadi returned Stefan Flintoft’s punt 56 yards for a touchdown, eluding a diving Flintoft along the way, to give Oregon a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

UCLA’s first drive yielded a dropped pass by tight end Caleb Wilson and a false start on left tackle Andre James. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson made his first start since the Bruins’ game against Arizona on Oct. 20.

Chip Kelly may not be the only significant UCLA figure who’s back at Autzen Stadium.

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson took pregame snaps from starting center Boss Tagaloa, indicating he was on track to start against Oregon.

Thompson-Robinson was also warming up without the wrapping over his shoulder area that he had worn last week while sitting out against Utah.

Thompson-Robinson has not played since the second quarter against Arizona on Oct. 20 when he suffered the injury to his shoulder area.

Wilton Speight filled in and guided the Bruins to a 31-30 victory over the Wildcats but was not as successful against Utah, completing 20 of 40 passes with two interceptions and no touchdowns last weekend during UCLA’s 41-10 loss.