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The UCLA Bruins had to know that it wasn’t going to be a normal day at the Rose Bowl after the first half of their game on Saturday against the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado ran 61 plays to UCLA’s 21 but the 24th-ranked Bruins still led 21-6.
Colorado rallied in the second half and had a 31-28 lead early in the fourth quarter before UCLA came back with a two-yard touchdown run by Soso Jamabo with 8:28 left and held on for a 35-31 victory. The Bruins moved to 6-2 for the season and 3-2 in the Pac-12 Conference with the win while Colorado fell to 4-5 overall.
UCLA jumped all over the Buffaloes early on a Josh Rosen 31-yard touchdown pass to Paul Perkins followed by an Ishmael Adams’ 96-yard interception return to make it 14-0 midway through the second quarter.
Perkins added an 82-yard touchdown run later in the quarter and it appears to be a runaway at 21-3. Colorado chipped away however and took a 31-28 lead with 12:04 left when Patrick Carr scored from six yards out followed by a two-point conversion to put the UCLA fans on edge but Jamabo’s run allowed the Bruins to escape.
Rosen was 19-for-33 for 262 yards and the touchdown pass while Perkins rushed for 118 yards and 12 carries to go with five catches for 49 yards. Jordan Payton had seven catches for 126 yards to lead UCLA, who will play at Oregon State next Saturday afternoon.
Sefo Liufau went 37-for-57 passing for 312 yards for Colorado while Nelson Spruce caught 11 passes for 90 yards and Devin Ross had nine catches for 101 yards. Carr finished with 100 yards rushing for the Buffaloes, who get to host Stanford next weekend.
