A pair of high-powered offenses put on a defensive display Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, with No. 22 UCLA beating No. 12 Arizona 17-7 to further tighten the Pac-12 South.
Arizona came into the game averaging 43 points per game. UCLA’s offense put up an average of 36 points a game over its first eight contests.
So of course, the No. 22-ranked Bruins beat the No. 12 Wildcats 17-7 in a defensive slugfest.
Arizona (6-2) scored on its first possession, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 14-yard pass from Anu Solomon to Cayleb Jones.
The Wildcats would gain 180 total yards the rest of the night as the Bruins (7-2) ramped up the defense.
Arizona held a 7-3 halftime lead, with UCLA getting on the board on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 24-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
UCLA put the game away with two touchdowns in 50 seconds late in the third quarter.
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Paul Perkins capped a 12-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.
After the defense forced a rapid three-and-out, the Bruins got the ball back at their own 30.
Brett Hundley went for the jugular and delivered, hitting Jordan Payton down the left sideline for a 70-yard catch and run that put UCLA up 17-7.
Casey Skowron missed a 39-yard field goal for Arizona with 1:12 to go in the third quarter and had a 26-yarder blocked with 1:55 left that essentially ended the game.
The Wildcats did get the ball back with 55 seconds to go, but Solomon’s last pass was picked off by Tahaan Goodman at midfield.
Hundley finished 19-for-26 for 189 yards and a touchdown and ran for 131 yards on 24 carries.
Solomon was an erratic 18-for-47 for 175 yards, while the ground game for Arizona was held to 80 yards on 31 carries. Terris Jones-Grigsby had 50 yards on 11 carries for the Wildcats.
UCLA improved to 4-2 in the Pac-12 West, while Arizona fell to 3-2. Arizona State and Utah were the lone teams with one loss in the division, but they were meeting in Tempe, Ariz., Saturday night.
UCLA visits Washington next Saturday, while Arizona returns home to play Colorado.
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