UCLA Football: Oregon State DB's Big Moment May Have Been Turning Point In Bruins Loss

A key play in this conference clash.

UCLA had plenty of opportunities to get the job done against Oregon State, but their young quarterback, Dante Moore, struggled on the road once again. 

After another multi-pick game, the freshman showed his inexperience with an ugly completion percentage by the end of Saturday's close loss to the visitors. 

According to head coach Jonathan Smith, Joel Odom of the Oregonian highlighted one of these brutal interceptions from Ryan Cooper as a critical moment in the game for the Beavers eventual win. 

That was big, there’s no question. Again, this thing was going to be back and forth. But we had a little bit of a lead and then he takes it back to the house. That was a huge for momentum piece going into halftime. Then we start with the ball, we don’t get anything done third quarter. We got a stop on defense and then we were able to separate again, so. Big-time play, though, by Coop.

via Joel Odom, The Oregonian 

The Bruins had a good drive going before the end of the half, cutting the Beavers' lead in half on the mind of Chip Kelly. 

Moore forced a ball to the sideline that Cooper jumped on and sprinted up the sideline for a 67-yard pick-six. 

UCLA went from being down six points to trailing by 13 at the half and wouldn't recover from the tough blow. 

Offensive struggles continued after Moore's three picks on the evening, and the Bruins' defense couldn't make up ground for consistently short fields all game long. 

The loss dropped the Bruins seven spots in the AP Poll, although they maintained their spot on the fringes of the Top 25, presumably due to a loss to a ranked opponent. 

Lack of composure on the road has now been the cause for both UCLA losses, and Moore's next chance to limit these mistakes will come against Stanford this weekend. 

Don't forget to join our community at LA Sports Report, where we celebrate all things Bruins!