Chip Kelly cashes bonus after UCLA blows out USC

On3 imageby:Simon Gibbs11/20/21

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After a 62-33 blowout victory over the struggling USC Trojans, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly returned home a richer man.

The win brought UCLA to 7-4 on the season, and Kelly picked up another $10,000 bonus simply for getting win No. 7. Kelly has now won $60,000 in on-field bonuses this season, according to Steve Berkowitz of USA Today.

UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson got off to a slow start, as did the entire UCLA offense, despite what the final score might suggest. The Bruins trailed in the first quarter, 10-7, after Thompson started with two consecutive interceptions, but he quickly rebounded and so too did the Bruins.

“We talked to him at the end of the game about not flinching,” Kelly said after the game, when asked if UCLA’s staff said anything to help Thompson-Robinson settle down. “We knew that we were going to get their best shot. Just being resilient — I thought this was a really resilient group. We could go — we were down 20-7 points to Colorado and then we scored 37 straight to win 44-20. It’s incredible for those guys.”

Thompson-Robinson finished with 16 completions in 22 pass attempts, along with 349 passing yards, four touchdowns and the two aforementioned interceptions. Zach Charbonnet had a huge day on the ground for UCLA, taking 28 carries for 167 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own.

UCLA’s offense was excellent against the Bruins’ struggling in-state rival, as it managed 609 yards of total offense — 349 yards through the air, averaging 15.9 yards per completion, and 260 yards on the ground — while punching six of nine third-down attempts in for a first down. The defense however, was far from perfect, as USC freshman quarterback Jaxson Dart completed 27 passes in 47 attempts for 325 yards and one touchdown. USC tallied 484 yards of total offense, a poor number for the Bruins’ defense, but UCLA did manage to force Dart into throwing two interceptions, helping seal the fate of the win.

“The game of football — and I’ve said this before — it’s not perfect,” Kelly said. “It takes resiliency, and I think that was on display today with this group.”

UCLA is third in the Pac-12 south with a 7-4 record, and Saturday’s win marks their second straight; as Kelly mentioned, their last win, a 44-20 win over Colorado, also came in come-from-behind fashion, though the deficit was far larger against Colorado than USC. UCLA has just one regular-season game remaining before it goes to a bowl game, as it will host the Cal Bears next week in the regular-season finale.