UCLA Football: Writer Details How Bruins Defense Powered Upset Over WSU

UCLA stifled the WSU passing attack all game.

Saturday at the Rose Bowl saw the UCLA Bruins take down the Washington State Cougars this weekend in impressive fashion. Not only did they come out with the win, but they managed to make the Cougars high-powered offensive attack look average.

The defense came to play for UCLA and reminded everyone just how good they can be. Coming off a bye week, they looked prepared for this Cougars team and showed out in the process.

“The Bruins forced a season-high four turnovers and held a passing attack that was ranked second in the nation to only 204 yards, barely over half its average of 405.8. Ward also had his first two passes of the season intercepted while completing just 11 of 27 passes. The Cougars ran for 12 yards and averaged 0.6 yards per carry.”

Per Ben Bolch of The LA Times

This was the kind of performance that the Bruins may be able to look back on and see this as what propelled them forward. They made life tough on the Washington State offense all day long, and it was an impressive showing.

“It was a total team defense that shut them down,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said.

Per Ben Bolch of The LA Times

The defense carried the day with the offense sputtering a bit, but that is what good teams do. They find ways to win, and the Bruins defense deserves all the praise being thrown their way. The defensive unit uplifted their entire team, and it was a breath of fresh air to see from the Bruins.

They showed that they were a legitimate threat and that they wouldn’t be pushed around. Now, they can take this performance, and continue learning from it. They still have some work to do across the board, but now the Bruins look to be one of the favorites to win the Pac-12 if they can keep this up.

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