All Bruins UCLA Football Players of the Game: Week 4 vs. Colorado

Awarding the Bruins' top offensive, defensive and special teams players in their win over the Buffaloes on Saturday.

Along with another Bruin blowout came another handful of standout performances.

UCLA football (4-0) went on the road and picked up a 45-17 victory over Colorado (0-4) on Saturday. Taking a look at each unit individually, here are the three student-athletes who have earned the All Bruins UCLA Football Players of the Game awards.

Offensive Player of the Game: RB Zach Charbonnet

Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson may have had his best game of the year, and he was really the engine of the offense, but Charbonnet's efficiency Saturday afternoon was really tough to match.

Charbonnet got nine touches on the day – all of which were carries – and more than made the most of them. His first two carries went for 6 yards and 3 yards, then he lost 4 yards on his next attempt.

From there, Charbonnet was running wild.

Charbonnet put his team up 14-0 with a 35-yard touchdown. The former Michigan transfer then had a 5 yard carry wiped out by an illegal formation, which only ended up helping his final stats, considering he went for a 13-yard touchdown on the very next play.

Although Charbonnet's next attempt was stopped at the line, he followed that up with a 46-yard touchdown.

Charbonnet needed just nine carries to go for 104 yards and three touchdowns, conjuring memories of his big-play performances against Hawaii and LSU early in 2021. If the Bruins are going to compete this season, they'll need Charbonnet to be his All-Pac-12 self, and he showed Saturday that he certainly has that in him.

Defensive Player of the Game: DL Laiatu Latu

No Bruin has been more disruptive this season – or honestly over the past few years – than Latu was on Saturday.

Latu was an absolute menace, racking up four tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup. The Bruins needed every bit of his production, too, with Jay Toia getting hurt and Gabriel Murphy getting ejected in the first half.

Going against a true freshman quarterback, making him uncomfortable was key. Even though UCLA's defense didn't have the greatest day from start to finish, Owen McCown was getting hit a lot, and Latu was the leader in that.

Latu was beating interior linemen, tackles, tight ends and basically everyone the Buffaloes threw his way. His lone mistake was a roughing the passer call when he hit McCown low, but it was still a good pass rush move all things considered.

When he played off the line and defended the flat, Latu read McCown's eyes well and nearly had an interception when he swatted one down. And Latu showed off his dynamism by sacking McCown for a 10-yard loss the very next play.

Latu first made an impact against Alabama State, and he one-upped that performance against an actual FBS opponent this time.

Special Teams Player of the Game: K Nicholas Barr-Mira

Winning by 28 points meant that, unlike the week before, special teams didn't necessarily decide the outcome of Saturday's game.

Still, Barr-Mira once again got the job done against the Buffaloes.

Barr-Mira is now pretty far removed from his up-and-down 2021 campaign and sketchy 2022 opener. The redshirt junior hit all five of his extra point attempts Saturday, as well as his only field goal attempt from 44 yards out.

That made him a perfect 18-of-18 on extra points on the season, and 6-of-6 on field goals over the past three weeks.

Not to be overlooked is Barr-Mira's punting four games into his first year doing double-duty. Barr-Mira's first punt went 45 yards and put the Buffaloes inside the 25 even after an 11-yard return. His next attempt also went 45 yards, and was muffed at the 18.

The kicker's longest punt of the day was his last, and it went 49 yards and pinned Colorado at their own 15.

It wasn't a flashy or game-winning performance by Barr-Mira, but he continued to be a really solid contributor and reliable force in the third phase of the game.

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