WATCH: Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Kaz Allen on UCLA's Eventful Win

A string of long touchdowns were enough for the Bruins to pull away from Bowling Green down the stretch Saturday.

UCLA football quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and receiver Kazmeir Allen spoke to reporters following Saturday afternoon’s 45-17 win over Bowling Green. Thompson-Robinson talked about overcoming his early interception and scrambling for a 68-yard touchdown, while Allen talked about how he’s fitting into his new role and what it meant to see Josiah Norwood break off a long touchdown at the end of the game. 

17-7 not the end of the story. Someone say something?

Dorian Thompson-Robinson: I think not only me being through this so many times, a lot of guys on this team have been through this so many times. I've said this before, we have a lot of third-, fourth-, fifth-year guys that have been in the program, and they know how to be college athletes, they know how to be football players and when stuff gets hard, not go in the tank and everything. So I couldn't be more proud of my team for that, just the maturity level out there on the fields for sure.

385 total yards, four touchdowns. Assess the day you had out there?

DTR: I can't stop thinking about the pick. For sure gonna be super, super critical about that make sure we clean up those mistakes. Especially a lot of stuff that happened in the first half or the first quarter. But I think it was still overall a really good day. You know, I tried to get the ball out of my hands as fast as possible, not try and take as many snacks and try and get this o-line to cool down a little bit. So I think it was a really good day overall for the whole team.

Speaking of the O-line, how bout Mafi with the first down?

DTR: Oh my god, I was so happy for him. I'm like please don't say I was down because he's going for it. I couldn't be more happy for him. He's one of those guys that works his tail off, he's always a team guy. So for him to get his little shine and spotlight, that was awesome.

You sound a little hoarse, doing a lot of screaming out there?

DTR: I've been doing screaming all week trying to get guys lined up and making sure the team is going in the right direction. As I said before, I'm always using my voice and I'm gonna keep continuing to use my voice until it runs out.

Player-led team?

DTR: Yeah, it really wasn't even getting on each other. It was more so just going back to our individual position groups, individual position coaches, seeing the feedback, getting the feedback because this is our first game. There's gonna be some different stuff on the defensive side, different stuff on the offensive side from what Bowling Green was running. So just being able to adjust. We knew that they were gonna run some different stuff than what we had seen on film. And so I think we did a really good job of adjusting and I think that showed in the second half.

Going to Kaz?

DTR: For me, I'm trying to spread the ball as much as I can. Obviously with his speed and what he brings to the table, it's hard not to get him the ball. But I think coach Kelly's doing a really good job knowing the matchup, knowing how can we attack the defense in certain ways, and so getting him the ball is definitely one of them.

Kaz going from home run guy to every down guy?

Kazmeir Allen: It feels good, just being there every down and still having the ability to hit a home run. But today we ain't really show too much, but it's all good.

Heat?

DTR: Yeah. It was definitely hot today. I think everybody felt it and I definitely felt it after that first run, I think almost got heat exhaustion after that first run. But I think we did a really good job on the sidelines, being able to stay hydrated, eat, our nutritioniost Ross out there giving us snacks, all the water girls are doing their part, so couldn't be more grateful for them because they really kept us in the game. If it wasn't for them, I think we all would've be dying.

KA: To piggyback on that, I'm from the Central Valley, so I'm seeing 105 almost every day, but it was still hot. I ain't gonna downplay it, it was still hot.

Long rushing TD?

DTR: Again, they drop a lot of a lot of dudes into coverage when they go zone, and they drop really deep in their zone coverages. So just seeing green grass, open space. You know, if you're gonna commit everybody to our guys on the perimeter, that means there's nobody left for the quarterback. And then me and my speed – my players, my coaches, everybody's raving about me and my legs, so just being able to get first downs and touchdowns is the ultimate goal and I think that's what we're trying to do on a day to day basis.

Did that run shift momentum?

DTR: I think we probably have to go back and look at the film on all that. But in terms of the sideline, I think we're still keeping the same thing. We were still down. Just pushing through the game, I think more so we were mostly focused on staying in the game, not getting overcome by the heat. Making sure we're focusing on our plays and not getting too tired.

Norwood's first career touchdown?

KA: The same we would congratulate anyone scoring a touchdown, but Josiah just got put on scholarship as well, so that was real cool to see him score that long touchdown. We showed him some love on the sideline.

DTR: That’s super sentimental for me, cause that’s my first roommate being here, he’s a quarterback and so just seeing him grow, especially as a person and an athlete being able to switch over to receiver with how athletic he is, really show off his speed there at the end, I mean you couldn’t be more happy for a guy like that for sure.

The touchdown to Keegan, does that show your experience, kind of going through progressions to get that screen pass to him?

DTR: Yeah for sure, I said it before, just trying to get the ball out of my hand, get the ball into these guys hands and see what they can do. We have a lot of new faces on the outside, so just seeing how guys move, how guys work, who can we use in different situations, so I think you could see when Keegan gets the ball in his hands what he can really do with the ball.

Get a green light against a nickel blitz on the long touchdown run? Felt like you could beat them with your arm or legs?

DTR: Yeah for sure, I don’t know if it was the nickel or the safety but we had been working on different protections and slotting guys different ways and seeing who they were gonna come off at different points and they ended up changing the whole thing come the first quarter so definitely having to evade some free rushers throw hot a few times, just get the ball out of my hand but again just trying to stay on schedule, give coach Kelly an opportunity to call as many plays as he can on as many different downs and so I think that was the biggest thing too and then as well as giving the defense a break, you know that first quarter was rough, they’re on the field almost all of it so you know just trying to give them back a break for sure.

How does it feel to always have a solid TE group to rely on?

DTR: Oh yeah for sure, and with the style of offense that Chip runs, you know we need those tight ends, we need those big bodies to be able to change personnel, get bigger matchups out there, get them the base coverage and all that stuff. So you know I love my tight ends, those are the best part, that’s my favorite group, I love my tight ends.

How does Kaz make your job easier out there for you out on the field?

DTR: I mean I think you say that today, you know always there, he knows football, he can see the coverage well, so you know when you give a guy a lot of options, and then he can always make it right, it makes my job a lot lot easier for sure.

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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.