UCLA’s furious second-half comeback falls short in loss to UNLV

LAS VEGAS — This wasn’t close, no matter what the scoreboard said. This was a full-blown debacle.

Given a chance to quickly right things after a season-opening blowout loss, UCLA instead doubled down on disappointment.

There was another terrible start. A defense that was slow and often out of position. An offense couldn’t sustain drives until it was too late.

Even with an inspired comeback that fell short after a Nico Iamaleava pass was tipped and intercepted with 52 seconds left, the Bruins’ 30-23 loss to Nevada Las Vegas on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium showcased many of the same problems that had plagued them a week ago.

After reviewing the footage of his team’s 33-point setback against Utah, UCLA coach DeShaun Foster pinpointed all the things that nearly went right and said his team was “close” to executing the plays it needed to win.

🏈 UNLV 30, UCLA 23 — FINAL

UNLV defensive back Aamaris Brown intercepted a pass intended for Mikey Matthews that was tipped by linebacker Marsel Duffie to end UCLA’s comeback attempt, sending the Bruins to 0-2 on the young season.

Coming out of the two-minute warning, UCLA didn’t waste time. Nico Iamaleava connected on passes of 21, 12, 11 and 13 yards to start the drive before Brown’s interception.

UNLV improved to 3-0.

🏈 UNLV 30, UCLA 23 — 5:25 left in the fourth quarter

UCLA’s Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 33-yard field goal to make it a one-score game late in the fourth quarter.

The Bruins missed out on a touchdown when Nico Iamaleava just overthrew tight end Jack Pedersen in the end zone.

The six-play, 42-yard drive was fueled by a 20-yard run by Jalen Berger and a 15-yard pass interference penalty called on UNLV’s Laterrance Welch that moved the ball into the red zone.

UCLA has been the better team in the second half, but can they get another critical stop and put the ball back into Iamaleava’s hands?

UCLA has two timeouts left; UNLV has none.

🏈 UNLV 30, UCLA 20 — 6:49 left in the fourth quarter

The UCLA defense came up big in a critical moment.

UCLA defensive lineman Devin Aupiu nearly picked off a pass by UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who tried to throw away the ball as he was about to be sacked.

A video review determined Colandrea’s right knee was down before he tossed the ball. Instead of an interception, Kechaun Bennett was credited for a sack that resulted in a 13-yard loss.

UNLV punted two plays later, and UCLA took over on its 43-yard line.

🏈 UNLV 30, UCLA 20 — 8:50 left in the fourth quarter

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava found an opening and broke off a 30-yard touchdown run to make it a two-score game.

The run capped an eight-play, 78-yard drive that only took 3:08 off the clock as the Bruins try to come back from what was a 23-0 deficit at one point.

Iamaleava has completed 22 of 28 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. He has rushed for 59 yards in 11 carries.

🏈 UNLV 30, UCLA 13 — 12:04 left in the fourth quarter

UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea threw a dart over the middle to tight end Var’Keyes Gumms for a 17-yard touchdown pass to extend the Rebels’ lead.

The touchdown came one play after Colandrea scrambled for 33 yards, breaking through multiple tackle attempts to move the ball to the UCLA 17. The Rebels drove 75 yards on six plays.

Colandrea has completed 14 of 18 passes for three touchdowns.

🏈 UNLV 23, UCLA 13 — Three seconds left in third quarter

The Bruins had to settle for a 35-yard field goal from Mateen Bhaghani after a costly pass-interference penalty at the goal line prevented a touchdown.

A touchdown pass to Kwazi Gilmer was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty on Gilmer that pushed UCLA back to the 17.

Nico Iamaleava tried to find the end zone on third down, but referees missed a roughing the passer penalty on UNLV defensive lineman Lucas Conti as Iamaleava tried to find an open receiver in the end zone.

Still, it was another solid drive for the Bruins after they looked completely lost for much of the first half.

Gilmer made a spectacular juggling catch for 12 yards during the drive, the first time UCLA converted on third down in 10 attempts tonight.

Mikey Matthews caught a 15-yard pass and the Bruins got another 15 yards when UNLV’s Justin Flowe was disqualified for targeting Matthews on a late hit.

UCLA’s defense forced a three-and-out on the UNLV defense, forcing the Rebels to punt for the first time.

🏈 UNLV 23, UCLA 10 — 7:48 left in the third quarter

UCLA tight end Noah Fox-Flores caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Nico Iamaleava as a rejuvenated-looking Bruins offense scored on the first possession of the second half.

A pass interference penalty by UNLV on third-and-14 for the Bruins helped keep the 12-play, 74-yard drive.

Iamaleava connected on 15-yard passes to Jack Pedersen and Titus Mokiao-Atimalala. Anthony Woods broke off an 18-yard run to fuel the possession, UCLA’s strongest by far in this game.

🏈 UNLV 23, UCLA 3 — HALFTIME

Mateen Bhaghani kicked a 33-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half to get UCLA on the board in what was a very disappointing performance for the Bruins in the first half.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava has completed just seven of 10 passes for 59 yards. UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea has completed 12 of 14 passes for two touchdowns.

UCLA has just 110 total yards in the first half to UNLV’s 235.

🏈 UNLV 23, UCLA 0 — 1:49 left in the second quarter

UCLA’s tackling woes continue to haunt them.

UNLV running back Keyvone Lee broke through the UCLA defense for a 19-yard touchdown run. UNLV failed to convert on the extra-point attempt after a botched snap.

Anthony Colandrea completed a 14-yard pass to Var’Keyes Gumms to help fuel the five-play, 44-yard drive that started when UCLA failed to convert on fourth down.

UNLV’s Jaden Bradley was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the touchdown, which might give UCLA a chance to find the end zone before halftime — if it can awaken its offense.

🏈 UNLV 17, UCLA — 3:30 left in the second quarter

UCLA can’t find build any momentum on offense.

On fourth-and-one, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava was hit for a two-yard loss, allowing the Rebels to take over at the Bruins’ 46-yard line.

Iamaleava has completed four of five passes for a UCLA offense that has just 69 total yards (compared to UNLV’s 202).

🏈 UNLV 17, UCLA 0 — 5:39 left in the second quarter

UCLA’s defense doesn’t look close to being fixed.

UNLV wide receiver Troy Omeire made a great touchdown catch on a 21-yard pass from Anthony Colandrea to extend the Rebels’ lead.

The 10-play, 76-yard drive sliced through the UCLA defense. Colandrea completed a 15-yard pass to Taeshaun Lyons, then Daejon Reynolds made a spectacular 32-yard catch in tight coverage.

Jai’Den Thomas broke off an 11-yard run to set up the touchdown play.

🏈 UNLV 10, UCLA 0 — 11:17 left in the second quarter

UCLA’s second possession went nowhere.

UNLV linebacker Donovan Spellman sacked Nico Iamaleava on second down, and a two-yard pass to Mikey Matthews on third down wasn’t enough to keep the drive going.

Iamaleava, who has been sacked twice, has completed two of three passes for 17 yards.

🏈 UNLV 10, UCLA 0 — 13 seconds left in the first quarter

UNLV tight end Nick Elksnis caught a 21-yard touchdown pass over the middle from quarterback Anthony Colandrea to extend the Rebels’ lead late in the first quarter.

Elksnis was left wide open in the secondary.

The touchdown came after two 15-yard penalties on UCLA. The first was a face mask penalty on Scooter Jackson. Then, Cole Martin was called for pass interference on what appeared to be a very uncatchable pass, putting the Rebels just outside the red zone.

Colandrea has completed six of six passes for 76 yards and a touchdown so far.

UCLA’s first possession started promising when Jaivian Thomas broke off a 32-yard run to put the ball on the UNLV 48.

Unfortunately, quarterback Nico Iamaleava was sacked on consecutive plays by to bring the possession to an end.

🏈 UNLV 3, UCLA 0 — 7:55 left in the first quarter

Ramon Villela kicked a 50-yard field goal to give Nevada Las Vegas an early lead.

The field goal capped an 11-play, 43-yard opening drive for the Rebels.

Three consecutive penalties on the Rebels ultimately put the brakes on what was a decent drive.

With the Alabama-Birmingham vs. Navy game still in progress, the start of the UCLA-UNLV game will be streamed at CBSSports.com and on the CBS Sports app.

The UAB-Navy game was delayed two times because of inclement weather.

The most densely packed section inside the Rose Bowl on Saturday was filled with fans wearing the colors of the visiting team.

Swathed in red and white, they crammed into one corner of the century-old stadium for what amounted to a nightlong celebration.

Fans cheering for the home team were more subdued and scattered throughout a stadium that seemed about one-third full, outnumbered by empty seats, visiting fans and those massive blue-and-gold tarps covering most of each end zone. Deliberately or not, Fox cameras inside the stadium showed those watching from home only wide shots filled with graphics that obscured the paltry crowd.

By late in the third quarter, the only suspense remaining in UCLA’s 43-10 blowout loss to Utah was waiting for the announced attendance. Reporters in the press box were given a figure of 35,032, which seemed inflated given so many empty seats below them.

Two days after a 33-point loss in which his team gave up 492 yards while missing a slew of tackles, DeShaun Foster indicated that he didn’t feel quite so bad about what might have felt like the end of days to UCLA fans streaming out of the Rose Bowl before the end of the third quarter.

What was the coach’s assessment after rewatching the game footage?

“That we were close,” an upbeat Foster said Monday evening of his team’s season-opening 43-10 setback against Utah.

Before reporters could follow up by asking “Close to what?” Foster went on to suggest that a number of corrections might help the Bruins (0-1) make the needed improvement before facing Nevada Las Vegas (2-0) on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium.

“There’s a lot of things that we can actually fix,” Foster said, “so that’s the bright spot that I saw on that [film] and talking to the team, I can tell that they were ready to hear those things, and they saw the same thing too.”

From the first snap of training camp, DeShaun Foster tightly controlled any narratives about his team.

Reporters never knew how much — or little — of UCLA’s practice sessions they would get to watch, one day being limited to eight minutes of stretching. Mostly they saw individual drills, field goals and — in recent weeks — one snap of the full offense going against the defense.

Photography and video were banned, even at a Rose Bowl practice open to spectators who faced no such restrictions. Foster preferred to let the team’s social media posts and internally produced video series suffice as the story of his team.

As of late Saturday night, the story could no longer be kept secret.

There was probably a joke to be made about UCLA moving practice this week to its intramural fields after being so thoroughly outclassed in its season opener.

The intent was to prepare for the artificial turf the Bruins will play Saturday inside Allegiant Stadium, but they will also need to significantly level up to beat Nevada Las Vegas.

While coach DeShaun Foster’s “We were close” declaration didn’t go over well with fans in the wake of a 33-point loss to Utah, defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe and inside linebackers coach Scott White indicated through their body language and words that there was significant work to be done on a defense that missed so many tackles.

“Trying to get it fixed, man,” White told reporters during a chance encounter outside the Wasserman Football Center.