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 Junior running back Paul Perkins had a monster game to help
10th-ranked UCLA to a 24-23 victory over No. 19 BYU on Saturday
night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Perkins carried 26 times for a career-high 219 yards and one
touchdown for the Bruins (1-0), who rallied from a 10-point deficit
in the fourth quarter.
"We had to overcome a lot to win that game tonight -- a lot of
adversity," UCLA coach Jim Mora said. "It starts with a very good
BYU team that played physical and tough and gave us all we could
handle."
Rosen completed just 11 of 23 passes for 106 yards with one
touchdown and three interceptions. He was outdone by Mangum, who
completed 30 of 47 passes for 244 yards and one touchdown for the
Cougars (2-1).
Senior running back Adam Hine rushed for a career-high 149 yards and
one touchdown on 23 carries for BYU, which let the lead slip away in
the final minutes.
Junior linebacker Harvey Langi played both ways for the Cougars. He
had a team-high eight tackles and the first two interceptions of his
career. On offense, he carried the ball twice, rushing for two first
downs.
The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead after Hine scored on a 7-yard
run with 9:39 to play in the opening quarter. His touchdown capped
an 11-play, 71-yard drive on BYU's first possession.
The Bruins cut the deficit to 7-3 when Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked a
35-yard field goal early in the second quarter. The Cougars answered
with a field goal of their own, extending the lead to 10-3 on a
40-yarder by Trevor Samson with 9:18 remaining in the first half.
UCLA tied the score at 10 on a 5-yard run by Perkins with 9:27 to go
in the third quarter. BYU answered quickly, going up 17-10 on a
14-yard touchdown pass from Mangum to senior wide receiver Mitch
Matthews with 6:26 to go in the third quarter.
Matthews, who has caught a pass in 27 consecutive games, had team
highs of nine receptions and 84 yards.
The Cougars extended their lead to 20-10 on a 45-yard field goal by
Samson early in the fourth quarter, but the Bruins battled back.
They cut the deficit to 20-17 on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Rosen
to senior wide receiver Jordan Payton with 12:16 remaining, capping
a five-play, 68-yard drive.
BYU went up 23-17 on a 32-yard field goal by Samson with 5:39 to go,
but the Bruins mounted a seven-play, 80-yard drive to take their
first lead of the game on a 3-yard run by sophomore running back
Nate Starks with 3:21 to play.
Starks had runs of 31 and 22 yards on the drive, finishing with a
career-high 81 yards on seven carries.
BYU amassed 405 yards of total offense. UCLA had 402. The Cougars
dominated time of possession but managed to score only three points
off three UCLA turnovers.
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The Bruins won despite going just 1 of 9 on third-down conversions.
Rosen's struggles were somewhat surprising. He completed 28 of 35
passes for 351 yards and three touchdowns in a season-opening
victory over Virginia and for 223 yards on 22-of-42 passing last
week in a win over UNLV.
Mangum has enjoyed quite a start to his college career, too.
He replaced injured starter Taysom Hill early in the fourth quarter
of the season opener against Nebraska and rallied his team to a
33-28 victory. He completed 7 of 11 passes for 111 yards, including
a 42-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game. He followed
that with 309 yards on 17-of-28 passing in last week's 35-24 victory
over Boise State.
Mangum had an opportunity to produce another magical moment against
UCLA, but the Bruins wouldn't allow it. BYU was facing a
fourth-and-7 from midfield with just over one minute remaining when
UCLA linebacker Myles Jack intercepted Mangum's last pass to seal
the victory.
"They had a great pass rush and we were outside the pocket," BYU
coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Tanner tried to stay alive as long as
possible and the receiver was working to get open. Their defender
made a great play."
The Bruins have won 14 of their last 15 nonconference games,
including 11 in a row since a loss to Baylor in the 2012 Holiday
Bowl. They are 12-0 in regular-season nonconference games in four
seasons under Mora.
UCLA will play its Pac-12 Conference opener against Arizona next
weekend in Tucson, Ariz. BYU will visit Michigan.
NOTES: UCLA faced BYU for the first time since 2008 when the
then-18th-ranked Cougars crushed the Bruins 59-0 in Provo, Utah. ...
The Bruins and Cougars are scheduled to meet again next season in
Provo, Utah. ... This is the third consecutive season in which UCLA
has been ranked in the top 10. ... The last time BYU defeated a
top-10 team was in 2009 when the Cougars upset No. 3 Oklahoma.
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