Nothing for a half, then everything
Two offenses spent a half at the Rose Bowl proving they could not move the ball. The first play to cross midfield into enemy territory did not arrive until Brian Rowe Jr. caught a pass with 11:47 left in the second quarter. Halftime came and went at 0-0.
UCLA finished with 151 net passing yards. San Diego State managed 45. Neither number flatters anyone, and the Bruins needed a second half to save the night. They got one, and they got it from a 5-foot-7 fifth-year running back who scored three times.
Wayne Knight opened the scoring early in the third quarter. The Bruins should have been ahead long before. With just under nine and a half minutes left in the first half, Nico Iamaleava took a third-down snap at the San Diego State two-yard line, felt the pocket collapse around a blitz, spun away from the sack and threw off his back foot toward the end zone. Aztecs cornerback Mike Lindsay caught it instead.
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Knight’s third act
The fourth quarter is where Bob Chesney’s home debut turned into a win. Knight capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with a seven-yard run. Jalen Woods picked off his first pass of the season on the next San Diego State possession, and Jaivian Thomas ran in another score less than three minutes later.
San Diego State answered with a touchdown of its own, and 21-10 with two minutes left would have been enough. Knight went looking for more. Second play of the drive, he burst through the offensive and defensive lines and ran 36 yards. Third touchdown of the night, second straight three-touchdown game, 28-10.
Gritty, and Chesney knows it
“That is not the way we want to play football, obviously in the first half,” Chesney said. “But at the same point in time, that’s where we found ourselves. It wasn’t pretty, but it was gritty, and you need one of those.”
UCLA closed out Cal the same way a week ago, late and on the ground. Iamaleava was not interested in taking credit for any of it. “If we want to win these big games, I got to play way better,” he said. Purdue is next.
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