UCLA vs. Rice: Bruins lead, 49-24, in fourth quarter

UCLA, 49, Rice 24 (midway through fourth quarter)

Johnathan Franklin has scored his third touchdown of the game, this on a run from 22 yards out as the Bruins have put this game on ice.

Franklin has run for 214 yards in 15 carries.

UCLA 41, Rice 24 (early in fourth quarter)

Hundley and the Bruins returned to their scoring ways with a four-yard scoring pass to Joseph Fauria, extending UCLA’s lead with 12:29 left in the game. It was Hundley’s second touchdown toss of the game.

UCLA 35, Rice 24 (end of the third quarter)

What a quiet third quarter, compared to the first two.

Each team made coaching adjustments at halftime to try to slow the other team’s offense, and it has been working. Both teams combined for 59 points before halftime; none in the third.

In the quarter, UCLA had 34 passing yards and 25 rushing yards; Rice had 14 passing yards and 36 rushing yards. Each team had three possessions; each punted three times.

To the fourth we go!

UCLA 35, Rice 24 (halftime)

Remember how UCLA scored three touchdowns on its first five plays from scrimmage and how those five plays resulted in a whopping 193 total yards, including 146 on the ground?

That frivolous pace didn’t last.

In the Bruins’ next six plays, which were over the span of two three-and-out possessions that resulted in punts, the Bruins totaled just 11 yards.

Meanwhile, Rice -- the team that entered this game as a two-touchdown underdog -- stormed back to make it a three-point game.

But UCLA got another big play from its offense late in the second half when Johnathan Franklin rushed 78 yards up the middle for another touchdown with 3:36 before halftime.

It was a career-long run for Franklin and his second touchdown of the game, giving him 169 yards on eight carries.

It was UCLA’s third play of 70 or more yards in the first half.

It had just one play of 70 or more yards all of last season.

Of course, if you want to take some shine off that fact, all you have to do is note how bad Rice’s defense is, especially at giving up big plays.

And Rice is quite bad at it. In fact, last season the Owls allowed 23 plays of 40 or more yards last season, second most in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

But UCLA’s defense hasn’t shown itself to be all that impressive, either.

After building a 19-0 lead, the Bruins’ defense couldn’t stop Rice from chipping its way down the field with short runs and passes that culminated in first downs.

The Owls marched 75 yards in seven plays and 2 minutes, 16 seconds to pull to within five points of the Bruins on the scoreboard with 1 minute, 20 seconds before intermission.

That drive ended with a two-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Taylor McHargue to Sam McGuffie, giving McHargue his second touchdown pass of the game.

Rice got the ball back shortly thereafter when UCLA quarterback Brett Hundley threw the first interception of his career.

And UCLA got the ball right back when Datone Jones hit Rice quarterback Turner Peterson, who was in to replace McHargue after the quarterback left the field because of an apparent injury.

The ball was loose on the ground after Jones’ hit, and UCLA linebacker Damian Holmes scooped it up and rumbled 43 yards for a touchdown to give UCLA an 11-point lead.

What happened next? UCLA had its extra point attempt blocked. For the third time this game.

All told, there have been 684 yards of offense and 59 points. And that’s just the first half.

By the way, UCLA’s 35-point first half was its most since since scoring 35 in the first half against Washington State on Oct. 3, 1998.

UCLA 19, Rice 10 (end of first quarter)

Brett Hundley couldn’t have scripted his first college play any better.

The redshirt freshman UCLA quarterback, making his first start for the Bruins, ran for a 72-yard touchdown on UCLA’s -- and Hundley’s -- very first play from scrimmage.

Read that again: Hundley, a quarterback, ran for a 72-yard touchdown on his first college snap.

Officially, UCLA’s one-play scoring drive took 13 seconds; it seemed to take a lot longer.

Hundley, the much-hyped quarterback recruit from Chandler, Az., didn’t blaze by the Owls’ defense so much as he found a seam down the right sideline and was able to out-run the nearest defender with a nice, long stride. This was after Hundley faked handing the ball off to running back Johnathan Franklin on a spread-option play, kept the ball, then burst outside.

Hundley also received a nice down-field block from receiver Shaq Evans that helped free the quarterback up in the final 20 yards.

So if you are a UCLA fan and you were hoping that the Bruins’ offense would be a little more fast-paced, well, you can’t get much more fast paced than a touchdown on one play.

But the Bruins’ offense were just getting warmed up.

UCLA’s Sheldon Price intercepted Rice quarterback Taylor McHargue on the Owls’ next possession. And on UCLA’s next offensive play, Hundley threw his first pass: a 36-yard completion to tight end Joseph Fauria. Hundley’s next pass after that was his first touchdown pass, an 11-yard toss to Bruins receiver Jerry Johnson.

But, it’s worth noting, UCLA had its extra-point attempts blocked after each of their scores.

UCLA finally got an extra point kick through the uprights after Johnathan Franklin rushed for a 74-yard touchdown on the Bruins’ next offensive possession.

That’s three touchdowns on just five plays.

How’s that for fast-paced and productive?

At the end of the quarter, UCLA had 204 yards of offense on 11 plays (an average of 18.5 yards per play), including 151 rushing yards on just five rushes.

Rice’s McHargue had an eight-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Wilson to get the Owls on the board and Rice kicker Chris Boswell added a 53-yard field goal.

The Bruins had a turnover near the end of the quarter when Dalton Hilliard ran into Steven Manfro as Manfro was trying to fair-catch a punt. The ball bounced off Hilliard and was recovered by Rice, which has the ball to start the second quarter.

Pregame

HOUSTON -- At long last, the 2012 college football season is upon us, dear readers, and UCLA will play on opening night at Rice Stadium against the hometown Owls. Welcome. Get cozy. And stick around for updates throughout this evening’s affair. (You might also want to read Chris Dufresne’s Thursday column in The Times on just how good it is that college football is back.)

The Bruins have arrived at the stadium and about a dozen are on the field without pads, just tossing the ball around and getting loose.

A quick word on the weather: It’s hot, 97 degrees Fahrenheit, according to weather.com, with that classic August humidity for which Southern summers are notorious. (I walked the campus a bit ago under and my sweat glands are working doubletime.) The skies are clear even though previous forecasts called for a chance of scattered thunderstorms. It doesn’t appear that any rain will impede the game, but the heat and humidity could be a factor for the Bruins.

For background on tonight’s game, look no further than Chris Foster’s stories in today’s Times:

-- His breakdown of the key matchups to watch.

-- And his overall preview.

One aspect to keep an eye on is UCLA’s offensive line. The Bruins could start three freshmen in Simon Goines, Torian White and Jake Brendel. And Xavier Su’a-Filo, who is expected to play either left guard or left tackle, hasn’t played in two years because he was on a Mormon mission. UCLA has only one returning lineman with more than 20 starts under his belt: senior Jeff Baca (33). After him, UCLA only has two offensive linemen who started more than one game last season.

So, basically, it’s a good thing that UCLA freshman quarterback Brett Hundley is mobile, because with an unproven line, he might be on the move more often than he’d like.

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After a miserable summer, it’s finally time for college football