QB Josh Rosen Leads UCLA to Huge Comeback Victory over Texas A & M

When UCLA trailed Texas A & M 44-10 with 4:08 to go in the third quarter in the college football season opener for both teams on September 3rd, we’re guessing a lot of Bruin fans turned the TV channel to something else. If they did, they missed a thrilling comeback for the ages. UCLA scored five touchdowns, four on touchdown passes from quarterback Josh Rosen, in a come from behind 45-44 victory at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Rosen completed 35 of 59 passes for 491 yards and those four touchdowns with no interceptions. The last of his touchdown passes came when he faked a spike of the ball and lofted a 10 yard pass to Jordan Lasley to tie it at 44-44 with 43 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. JJ Molson kicked the pressure packed extra point that provided the victory.

Last season, the Bruins got off to a 3-3 start, before Rosen got a shoulder injury. Without him, the team finished 4-8. A quarterback capable of this type of comeback gives a tremendous morale boost to a team and sends a message to opponents that they can’t rest on a big lead. Still, UCLA will need to work on a few things before they are mentioned with Washington, Stanford, and USC as an elite team in the Pac-12. The Bruin defense allowed a whopping 382 rushing yards to A & M, including 203 to Trayveon Williams. All five A & M touchdowns came on the ground. Speaking of the running game, last year UCLA averaged just 84.3 yards rushing per game. That was the second worst in the country. Since the Bruins were in such a deep hole, they had to pass more to make that comeback, so the 63 yards rushing they had in this game is really no indication of this year’s edition of the ground game.

UCLA will host Hawaii (2-0) on September 9th. Texas A & M will have to put his one behind them, and will face FCS opponent Nicholls (1-0) of the Southland Conference on September 9th.