Second-half UCLA rally falls short in self-inflicted loss at UNLV

LAS VEGAS — What UCLA head coach DeShaun Foster hoped was a first-game outlier against a quality opponent teetered dangerously close to a worrisome trend Saturday night against a team from outside of the four power conferences.

The Bruins once again fell into a giant hole, this time a 23-point deficit before scoring their first points, and any hope of a big momentum swing stalled in a sea of yellow penalty flags throughout the second half of a 30-23 loss to UNLV at Allegiant Stadium.

Foster, who said the team’s overall execution was “close” after reviewing the film of last week’s 43-10 home loss to Utah, was beside himself after a late third-quarter drive encapsulated the struggles plaguing the Bruins’ winless start to the campaign.

Trailing 23-10, UCLA reached the UNLV 1-yard line and appeared poised to make its first serious run. However, a pair of failed rushing attempts for negative yardage were followed a penalty that negated a touchdown. The Bruins settled for a 35-yard Mateen Bhaghani field goal with three seconds left in the quarter.

“Still doing some things that we shouldn’t have done and stopping drives and just getting in our own way,” Foster said.

“Just being undisciplined, you know. You can get baited in a situation, there’s all types of stuff that can happen out there, but you’ve got to maintain your composure. It’s football and it’s going to be some high moments where you’re just flying off the handle a little bit, but you still have to maintain composure and that’s just something that we didn’t do in certain situations.”

UCLA (0-2) generated just 110 of their 428 yards before halftime and have yet to lead through two games.

UNLV (3-0) created a cushion after quarterback Anthony Colandrea finished a six-play drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Var’Keyes Gumms. It pushed the Rebels’ lead to 30-13 with 12:04 remaining.

The Rebels magnified the Bruins’ issues on defense early thanks to a balanced attack led by Colandrea, who connected with eight different receivers. He finished 15-of-21 passing for 203 yards and three touchdowns without an interception to go with 59 yards rushing.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava completed 29 of 41 passes for 255 yards and touchdown to go with 59 yards rushing and an additional score. But his interception inside the game’s final minute put an end to a wild second-half flurry.

“It’s tough, man. You know, I hate losing, man,” Iamaleava said. “So, you know, it’s a tough position to be in. But, you know, that tells us how much harder we gotta work.”

The Bruins lost despite outscoring the Rebels 20-7 in the second half.

Turning point of the game

The third quarter highlighted the Bruins’ work in progress offensively after starting the half down 23-3. They needed 26 plays over more than 14 minutes to come away with just 10 points.

The Bruins pulled within 10 points on two occasions in the half, including on Iamaleava’s 30-yard rushing touchdown with 8:50 to play.

“Was able to make some plays but were still doing some things that we shouldn’t have done,” Foster said, “and stopping drives and just getting in our own way. But it’s something that we can fix.”

On the next possession, UCLA edge rusher Kechaun Bennett pressured Colandrea, who wildly tossed the ball into the hands of edge rusher Devin Aupiu deep in UNLV territory. The Bruins thought they had a touchdown after Aupiu ran into the end zone, but the replay showed Colandrea’s knee was down before releasing the toss and the call was overturned.

Still, UCLA forced a punt because UNLV managed the clock poorly and decided to keep throwing the ball and stopping the clock following incompletions.

Iamaleava led another scoring drive that once more left points on the table. Tight end Jack Pedersen was open but dropped a 15-yard pass over the middle in the end zone. Three plays later, Bhaghani came on for a 33-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 30-23 with 5:25 to play.

Once again, UNLV inexplicably continued to throw the ball, with consecutive incompletions ending a six-play drive and leading to a punt with 2:19 left.

Iamaleava used the sidelines to his advantage on the potential game-tying drive, hitting receiver Kwazi Gilmer for completions of 21 and 13 yards. Running back Anthony Woods also pulled in an 11-yard catch and hurdled his way out of bounds.

However, a nine-play, 57-yard drive ended on Iamaleava’s pass over the middle that UNLV linebacker Marsel McDuffie tipped straight into the air and into the waiting arms of safety Aamaris Brown for the game-sealing interception on the UNLV 13 with 52 seconds left.

“I see Mikey (Matthews) coming across the middle, and lost track of the Mike backer and made a bad decision throwing it over the middle. Guy tipped the ball, and, yeah man, I gotta be better,” Iamaleava said.

UCLA postgame press conference

Below is what Foster, Iamaleava and defensive tackle Gary Smith III had to say following the loss:

UCLA standout on offense: WR Kwazi Gilmer

The sophomore got off to a slow start after not being featured for the first 20 minutes of the contest.

Gilmer, though, finished strong and caught a number of Iamaleava’s passes through contact or along the sideline.

The improved connection between the two players was a bright spot for an offense that continued to otherwise be inconsistent for early stretches.

UCLA standout on defense: Edge Kechaun Bennett

Even without the quarterback hurry that resulted in an overturned interception return for a touchdown, it was a positive development for a UCLA pass rush that failed to record a sack in the season opener.

Bennett had one of the team’s two sacks as part of his five tackles.

Why UCLA lost

Discipline, the first of Foster’s three pillars, was a major issue on a night that featured 27 combined penalties. UCLA was flagged 14 times, and each team was penalized for 129 yards. In fact, UNLV was the more penalized team in the opening half.

To start the second half, three different Bruins offensive linemen — right guard Julian Armella, center Sam Yoon and Garrett DiGiorgio, who moved from right to left tackle after halftime — each committed a penalty on a touchdown drive that took 12 plays and more than seven minutes to finish off.

On the late third-quarter drive that ended in a field goal, wide receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala was called for offensive pass interference to negate what would have been a 4-yard touchdown pass from Iamaleava to Gilmer.

At the start of the final UCLA drive, Armella drew a penalty for hands to the face. It wiped out a 19-yard completion on a screen pass to running back Jalen Berger.

One after another after another, the flags mounted at the most inopportune times and continuously limited or thwarted drives altogether.