PASADENA, Calif. - UCLA football is now riding a three-game win streak after a 20-17 victory over Iowa Friday night by running the ball 29 times for 211 yards.
UCLA (3-5, 2-4 Big Ten) coach Deshaun Foster received the game ball following the game after having his first home victory at the Rose Bowl.
"Coach Foster is not a losing guy. Everything he’s done in his life, he’s won, Bruins quarterback Ethan Garbers said. "I’m just happy we were able to get it done for him tonight.”
T.J. Harden lead the Bruins on the ground by carrying the ball 20 times for 125 yards. Logan Loya was UCLA's leading receiver having five receptions for 94 yards and one touchdown.
"I think we did a great job of picking up blocks and we opened up our playbook. We did more plays to the outside and more counters." Said Harden.
Logan Loya with a 29-yard touchdown. Bruins up by 7 with 55 seconds left til halftime! Credit Eric Bieniemy for his playcalling tonight. Over the last three games, this UCLA team has looked completely different from the first half of the season pic.twitter.com/c7Pag9e9ga
— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) November 9, 2024
Garbers threw two interceptions on the Bruins' first two offensive drives.
His first interception was caught by Iowa’s Zach Lutmer. His second was caught by Quinn Schulte. On Garbers's second interception, he was met by a defender up the middle on a straight-out blitz by Iowa.
A look at Ethan Garbers second interception. The pocket collapsed on him pic.twitter.com/4Ow2EvtAD7
— Thomas Murray (@Thomas_L_Murray) November 9, 2024
Iowa’s (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) offense got off to a hot start, by scoring on their first two offensive drives.
Kaleb Johnson scored their first set of points on a two-yard touchdown run. Their second score came on a 24-yard field goal.
Johnson finished the game as the Hawkeyes' leading rusher. He had 49 yards on the ground with 18 attempts.
Prior to Iowa’s 24-yard field goal, Jacob Gill hauled in a long 59-yard reception. After that moment, the Bruins' defense stayed resilient the rest of the night, allowing the Hawkeyes to score just one more time in the fourth quarter.
UCLA’s defense had a total of three sacks and three turnovers. Carson Schwesinger had two interceptions, Kai Medrano stripped the ball for a turnover on Iowa quarterback Brendan Sullivan and Oluwafemi Oladejo had two sacks.
"I think we just needed to make sure we stayed disciplined," Schwesinger said. "So when things weren’t going our way at times, we just had to make sure things didn’t get out of hand and stick with what we know.”
The Bruins come up with ANOTHER pick!! 💪 @UCLAFootball pic.twitter.com/0bNyMOyW0l
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 9, 2024
UCLA’s first set of points came early in the second quarter. Mateen Bhaghani who has been nearly perfect all season kicked the second-longest field goal in school history for 57 yards to cut their deficit by a touchdown.
On Iowa’s next offensive play, Schwesinger had his first interception at the 43-yard line. UCLA began their next drive near the 50-yard line after a penalty was called on the interception.
The Bruins ran the ball five times with Harden and Jalen Berger. Harden had a 29-yard run. Garbers finished the drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to Titus Mokia-Atimalala near the pylon where only he would be able to catch the ball to tie the game at 10.
With two minutes left in the second quarter, the Bruins were looking for a score before halftime. They ended up needing one minute and five seconds of the quarter after Garbers had his best throw of the night on a 29-yard pass to Loya to make the score 17-10.
Iowa's next score came in the fourth quarter after Sullivan was replaced by Jackson Stratton earlier in the third quarter. On a drive that carried from the third to the fourth, Iowa had their first big break of the night.
The Hawkeyes were prepared to settle for a 57-yard field goal four yards away from the endzone, an unsportsmanlike penalty was called on Bryan Addison. Iowa accepted the penalty and scored eight players later on a one-yard run by Kamari Moulton.
On the next drive, UCLA put together a 13-play drive that lasted six minutes and 39 seconds. Garbers converted two first downs to Kwazi Gilmer to keep them alive.
Failing to score on a goal line situation, the Bruins kicked a 27-yard field goal by Bhaghani to give the game its final score.
With Four minutes left in the game, Iowa had plenty of time to take the lead. UCLA’s defense ended up forcing them into a three-and-out.
UCLA finished the game by converting two first downs for the game's last four minutes and forced Iowa to drain out all of their timeouts. The Bruins dominated the time of possession in the fourth quarter and prevailed for the victory.