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UCLA vs. LSU Week 1: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis

Stay right here for all of the updates on the Bruins' game versus the Tigers

Sam Connon

UCLA vs. LSU Week 1: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis
UCLA vs. LSU Week 1: Live Updates, Highlights, Analysis /

UCLA football is playing LSU in Week 2 of the 2021 college football season, marking the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Stay tuned for injury and personnel updates, highlights and other key events to keep an eye on all day long.

FINAL: UCLA 38, LSU 27

9:14 p.m.: The Bruins complete the upset and improve to 2-0. Read All Bruins' wrap of the game HERE.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson: 9-of-16, 260 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT, 242.1 RTG
Max Johnson: 26-of-46, 330 yards, 3 TD, 1INT, 134.0 RTG

Zach Charbonnet: 11 carries, 117 yards, 1 TD, 1 reception 35 yards
Tyrion Davis-Price: 13 carries, 30 yards, 1 reception, 5 yards

Greg Dulcich: 3 receptions, 117 yards, 1 TD
Kayshon Boutte: 9 receptions, 148 yards, 3 TD

Quentin Lake: 7 tackles, 2 PBU, 1 QB hit
Damone Clark: 13 tackles, 1 PBU

Kyle Philips leaves, comes back to put nail in coffin

8:50 p.m.: Receiver Kyle Philips quickly hobbled off the field in the middle of a drive, causing concern for him health.

All of a sudden, he was back in the game. He made the most of his return by catching a pass in open space, breaking a tackle and scoring from 45 yards out to make it 38-20 UCLA.

Up-and-down drive ends in seven

8:32 p.m.: The Bruins are starting to pull away with this one with the offense continuing to roll and time ticking away.

Charbonnet had a 43-yard run, then nearly got his team inside the 5 before a hold by Dulcich wound up putting UCLA in a 3rd-and-14 scenario. Dulcich made a grab over the middle, turned up field and got pulled down at the 1.

Running back Brittain Brown bounced out to the left for the touchdown, and Nicholas Barr-Mira hit the PAT to put UCLA up 31-20 with 12:28 left on the clock.

Teams trade field goals, prior to fourth quarter

8:23 p.m.: The Bruins have the ball near midfield as they lead the Tigers 24-20.

15 more minutes left in regulation. Players and fans are putting the 4s up.

Ref sets pick, Tigers cash in

8:00 p.m.: On a play that almost completely took the air out of the Rose Bowl, Max Johnson found Kayshon Boutte cutting across the middle of the field. Jay Shaw was trailing in close pursuit, but got bodied by the referee at midfield and Boutte took it 44 yards for the touchdown.

Kind of crazy that that's allowed, or that the referee couldn't make an effort to avoid it, but it is what it is and LSU is back in this one.

UCLA still up 21-17.

Momentum swing to open the second half

7:54 p.m.: Linebacker Caleb Johnson was in the right place at the right time, picking off a failed screen and returning it to the LSU red zone.

An incompletion and short run set the Bruins in a 3rd-and-long scenario, and after talking it over in a timeout, Thompson-Robinson hit Chase Cota coming across to his left for a 14-yard touchdown.

UCLA goes up 21-10 in the third quarter.

HALTIME: UCLA 14, LSU 10

7:26 p.m.: Fumbles, interceptions and penalties haven't cost the Bruins the lead heading into the locker room, but they haven't done the team any favors either.

Thompson-Robinson's ill-advised decision ended in an interception, which eventually led to a Tigers field goal. They very nearly had another field goal on the drive before, but a false start made it a 57-yard try for LSU kicker Cade York. Even though his disallowed 52-yard attempt was good, Ed Orgeron sent out the punt team instead.

A bunch of drops, while some can certainly be credited to the UCLA secondary, also cost LSU some points in the second quarter.

Zach Charbonnet seems to be the key for the Bruin offense yet again, and the passing game might need a revamp in terms of play-calling in the second half. Thompson-Robinson is hitting the open guys this week, but seems tentative throwin outside the numbers. Chip Kelly and co. will need to draw up short and intermediate plays that put guys in space – like the Dulcich touchdown – and then Thompson-Robinson can make the occasional play deep down the sideline or in the seam.

Either way, the Bruins are going to have to make some serious adjustments on offense in order to hold this lead.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson: 5-of-9, 159 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 218.4 RTG
Max Johnson: 14-of-27, 138 yards, 1 TD, 107 RTG

Zach Charbonnet: 7 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD, 1 reception 35 yards
Tyrion Davis-Price: 7 carries, 7 yards, 1 reception, 5 yards

Greg Dulcich: 1 reception, 75 yards, 1 TD
Kayshon Boutte: 3 receptions, 21 yards, 1 TD

Qwuantrezz Knight: 4 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PBU, 1 QB hit
Micah Baskerville: 3 tackles, 2 TFL

Charbonnet gives UCLA the lead

6:56 p.m.: The Bruins needed six plays to go 71 yards and take a one-score lead, and most of that production came via last week's MVP, Zach Charbonnet.

The running back who transferred from Michigan in the offseason started things off with a 20 yard run that frankly would have gone for 8 or 9 if it was anyone else in there. Then Charbonnet got 35 yards on a checkdown to convert a 3rd-and-long, making the most out of a key block by receiver Kyle Philips.

All he needed after that was a 12-yard touchdown, and that's exactly what he got. The UCLA ground attack is picking up steam as the first half winds down.

The Bruins lead 14-7.

Bruins answer quickly with big-time score

6:42 p.m.: LSU used a few chunk plays to get down field and score the game's opening touchdown early in the second, but it only took UCLA one snap to even things up.

Thompson-Robinson rolled out to his right to find tight end Greg Dulcich, who caught the ball and turned upfield, made one man miss, and just barely won the footrace to the goal line. It was a 75-yard score than ended up tying the game at 7-7 early in the second quarter.

The play moved Thompson-Robinson into a tie for sixth-place on the all-time UCLA passing touchdowns list, breaking his previous tie with Aikman at No. 7. He is now tied with Cory Paus with 42.

Terry Donahue honored between quarters

6:24 p.m.: UCLA honored coach Terry Donahue in the north end zone at the end of the first quarter.

Donahue, who coached the Bruins from 1976 to 1995, died July 4 at the age of 77. The program's all-time leader in wins was honored with a video tribute in the Rose Bowl, and a group of his former players and family members were joined by coach Chip Kelly for the service. Troy Aikman was present along with a couple dozen other UCLA alumni.

On the field, the first quarter ended in a 0-0 tie.

Messy start, no damage done yet

6:05 p.m.: Even with a sketchy start on offense, the Bruins are still in this one.

UCLA has 36 yards through two drives, all of which came through the air on one play. Dorian Thompson-Robinson's 36-yard pass to Kazmeir Allen nearly set the Bruins up for a field goal, but a sack took that away a few plays later.

The 12 yard sack, and Thompson-Robinson's 1-yard loss on a 3rd-and-short the next drive, erased the 13 combined yards picked up by Allen, Brittain Brown and Zach Charbonnet. This doesn't seem to be the same effortlessly efficient offense than showed up last week, at least through two drives.

LSU hasn't fared much better, just barely crossing into UCLA territory but not coming up with any points. It's only a matter of time before someone breaks this open, but the two teams are a 0-0 stalemate for the time being.

Sam Marrazzo out again, LSU crowd growing

5:07 p.m.: Redshirt junior center Sam Marrazzo was seen in shorts and a t-shirt when the Bruins took the field for warmups, meaning he is set to miss his second-straight game to open the year. He missed all of spring and fall camps and is still working his way back from the knee injury he suffered against Stanford in the 2020 season finale.

Redshirt junior Jon Gaines II will get the start at center yet again Saturday night.

And roughly 30 minutes before the opening kick, there are already more fans here than there were at the peak during Week 0 versus Hawaii. There are a good amount of UCLA fans, but at this point, there almost seems to be more purple and yellow than blue and gold.

The Tiger fans gave the Bruins a pretty heavy shower of boos when they came to the south end zone for stretches, and a bunch of UCLA players pumped them up and asked for more. They got even louder when LSU came out of the tunnel, so this could act as a road crowd for UCLA if things don't turn around soon.

There will certainly be more people in attendance than the 32,982 there were a week ago, but now it's just a matter of which team has more supporters in the bleachers.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon was the Publisher and Managing Editor at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s All Bruins from 2021 to 2023. He is now a staff writer at Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s Fastball. He previously covered UCLA football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball, men's soccer, cross country and golf for The Daily Bruin from 2017 to 2021, serving as the paper's Sports Editor from 2019 to 2020. Connon has also been a contributor for 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' BruinBlitz, Dash Sports TV, SuperWestSports, Prime Time Sports Talk, The Sports Life Blog and Patriots Country, Sports Illustrated and FanNation’s New England Patriots site. His work as a sports columnist has been awarded by the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon graduated from UCLA in June 2021 and is originally from Winchester, Massachusetts.

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