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UCLA vs. Arizona Week 6: Social Media Reactions to the Bruins Pulling Away From Wildcats Late

Fans were on edge most of Saturday night, but were quick to champion the ground attack that won the Bruins the game.

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UCLA vs. Arizona Week 6: Social Media Reactions to the Bruins Pulling Away From Wildcats Late
UCLA vs. Arizona Week 6: Social Media Reactions to the Bruins Pulling Away From Wildcats Late /

Things weren't so pretty to start for the Bruins on Saturday, and they had some fans seething in their seats back at home for most of the night.

Arizona (0-5, 0-2 Pac-12) kept things close with UCLA football (4-2, 2-1) before the Bruins eventually pulled away down the stretch, winning 34-16 in the process. The "Fire Chip Kelly" crew was not quite as loud this week as they had been in the past, and after all, the Bruins have a winning record in conference play and are technically still very much in the thick of things out west.

But it was only 14-13 at the half, and a lot of that had to do with some costly first-half mistakes that provided the Wildcats with plenty of momentum headed into the locker room.

It all started when Arizona, which boasted the worst record in the conference, marched all the way downfield to start the game, and they continued to do so again and again with long, methodical drives.

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The Wildcats scored on three of their four meaningful first-half drives, and on the one they didn't they still got inside the Bruins' 30 before turning it over on downs.

Things weren't much prettier on the offensive side of the ball for UCLA. The running game was working well enough, but quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson went just 1-for-8 with 3 yards in the first half. He capped off probably the worst passing half by a Bruin quarterback in over a decade with a wobbly interception in the final seconds before the break.

As harsh as fans and certain talking heads have been towards Thompson-Robinson in the past, there were a lot of people who simply felt bad for him, assuming he was injured in some way after he said last Monday he wasn't playing at 100%.

The Bruins were getting in their own way of creating separation, and the Wildcats were stopping themselves from coming back, as both teams started to rack up penalties in the second half.

Even in the first half, a string of three UCLA penalties led to a late touchdown on a trick play for Arizona.

Overall, there were 20 penalties called for 177 yards between the two teams, and it got to the point where people had had enough of the sloppy, undisciplined play.

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Through all of the messiness on defense, through the air and in the penalty battle, UCLA still emerged victorious.

A big reason for that, as people were quick to point out, was the success of running backs Brittain Brown and Zach Charbonnet. As a team, the Bruins rushed for 329 yards.

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Brown's 48-yarder in the fourth quarter made it a two-score game and essentially iced it late, and then it was all cleanup work for the Bruins from that point on.

Fans weren't exactly elated with the win, which hung in the balance for quite a long time against a previously winless opponent, and people seemed happier that UCLA covered the 16-point spread with a late meaningless field goal than they were that they beat Arizona.

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Again, not a lot of #FireChip, so overall, it was an improvement in the PR department for the Bruins in Tucson.

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