UCLA receiver Matt Sykes tries to run past a Stanford defender.
UCLA wide receiver Kazmeir Allen shows off his 10.44 100 meter speed during a recent game at the Rose Bowl. The 9-3 Bruins are waiting to see what Bowl game they will play in
In a season that fell somewhat short of the team goals, the UCLA Bruins football team finished the season on a high note, beating the California Golden Bears in Berkeley, 35-28. The Bruins finish the season with a 9-3 record, their best regular season finish since the 2014 season, when the Bruins went 9-3 in the regular season and then went on to defeat the Kansas State Wildcats, 40-35, in the Alamo Bowl to end up 10-3 for the 2014 season.
In the Cal game, the Bruins ran wild, rushing for 352 yards and controlling the time of possession, 36:50 to 23:10. Running back Zach Charbonnet led the Bruins with 119 yards rushing and one touchdown. The Bruins led the Pac-12 conference in rushing yardage per game at 246.3 yards and finished fourth in the nation in that category.
Cal finished the season at 4-8. The game went back and forth between the two rivals. The score was tied at 7-7 after one quarter. Cal led at halftime 21-17. UCLA led 24-21 after three quarters. Cal took a one-point lead in the fourth quarter after a touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Plummer to former Norco star Jaydn Ott. Plummer threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns in the game. The Bruins took the lead for good on a Charbonnet five-yard touchdown run.
Charbonnet leads the nation in all-purpose yardage (rushing & receiving) with an average of 168 yards per game. He is fourth in the nation in rushing yards per carry at 6.97 yards per carry and fourth in the nation in rushing yards per game at 135.9 yards per game. He rushed for 14 touchdowns in ten games, which was tied for 11th in the nation.
Despite those impressive statistics, Charbonnet was not selected as a finalist for the Doak Walker Award, an award that is given to the top tunning back in the nation. The three-finalist selected were Bijan Robinson of Texas, Chase Brown of Illinois, and Blake Corum of Michigan. Statistically, Charbonnet was the best running back in the nation. Chalk it up to east coast bias.
Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 189 yards and a passing touchdown and added 88 yards rushing with two rushing touchdowns. Thompson-Robinson is the UCLA all-time career leader in touchdowns with 113. He also is the all-time career leader at UCLA in total offensive yardage with 12,236 total yards. He will add to that total in a bowl game.
The Bruins are headed to a bowl game for the second straight season. If USC beats Utah in the Pac-12 conference championship game on Friday Night, they will be in the college football playoffs, which will open a berth in the Rose Bowl game for another Pac-12 school. The Washington Huskies at 10-2 could land in the Rose Bowl.
The Bruins could wind up in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio against a Big 12 school, the Las Vegas Bowl in Las Vegas against an SEC school, or the Sun Bowl in El Paso against an ACC school. The Holiday Bowl in San Diego is expected to pass on the Bruins after the fiasco of last season, in which the Bruins canceled within hours of the start of the game due to a Covid-19 outbreak on the team.
The LA Bowl is expected to select Washington State, who would take on the Mountain West Conference champions at SoFi Stadium on December 17th. The Bruins started out the season 6-0, but a loss at Oregon and losses at home to Arizona and USC cost the Bruins any hope of playing in the Pac-12 conference championship game. But with a 9-3 record and ranking of 17th in the nation, the season has had plenty of good memories for the 2022 Bruins football team.
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