UCLA comes back from down 32 to beat Washington State in Pac-12 After Dark

UCLA pulled off a stunner of a victory against Washington State on Saturday night in Pullman, rallying back from down 32 points and showing promise under Chip Kelly for the first time all season.

The Bruins were down 35-17 at halftime and fell behind 49-17 in the third quarter. Then they rallied for five straight touchdowns, forcing two punts and two turnovers in between, and scored on a punt return to take a 60-56 (!) lead in the fourth quarter.

UCLA surrendered a 65-yard touchdown pass with 6:11 left to give up the lead — quarterback Anthony Gordon’s 9th of the game. Then UCLA had the ball at the Cougar 17 for a 4th-and-5 and got stopped, turning the ball over on downs. But then they forced a fumble on the next play and came back to score to take a 67-63 lead four plays later.

The Bruins forced a fumble on Washington State’s first play after that to seal the victory.

How did Washington State throw for 570 yards and 9 touchdowns and still lose? They turned the ball over six times (four lost fumbles, two interceptions), gave up two special teams touchdowns (a kick and punt return), and allowed a 94-yard passing touchdown.

UCLA sophomore quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson played the best game of his career by far. He overcame some early accuracy issues and threw for 507 yards, 5 touchdowns, and rushed for 57 yards and two TDs.

This was the first time Chip Kelly really let Thompson-Robinson, a dual-threat QB, run freely during a game, and the results were excellent. And despite saying during the week that he wasn’t going to be running the blur because it was outdated, the offense UCLA played in the second half was the closest it’s been to resembling what Chip did at Oregon: they ran out of the shotgun, went no-huddle, utilized fake handoffs, spread formations, and QB runs.

Here are some cool numbers ESPN shared about the game:

– 2nd 30-point comeback win over last 5 seasons for UCLA (they also did it with Josh Rosen over Kevin Sumlin and Texas A&M)

– 130 combined points most in conference game in Pac-12 history

– Pac-12 teams were 84-0 when scoring 60-plus points in the last 40 seasons

And this is my favorite:

UCLA scored 50 points in 18 minutes, 52 seconds.

Most college basketball teams can’t do that.

— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) September 22, 2019

As Chip Kelly said after the game, it’s Pac-12 After Dark, and you never know what will happen!