ROSEN GOES FIVE-0 ON HAWAII

Book ’em, Josh-o — Josh Rosen leis out FIVE Touchdowns with 0 Interceptions as Hawaii takes it on the Chin Ho, 56-23; Darren Andrews catches 3 of those 5 TD passes

No man is an island (not even Maui from “Moana”), and no one player wins a college football game all by himself.  But there is no doubt that UCLA Quarterback Josh Rosen is the LEADER of the Bruins, and he and his squad hit Hawaii like a tidal wave, putting up eight touchdowns in a 56-23 romp.

Rosen threw 5 TD passes, 3 of them to Wide Receiver Darren Andrews, as UCLA dominated the game from the outset.  Hawaii’s Defense had no answer for Rosen, who went a remarkable 22-for-25, for 329 yards.  The Bruins also did a little better on the Ground than they had been doing during the previous dozen games or so, tallying 132 yards, which was an average of 5.1 yards per carry.  There were holes to run through that have been hard to come by recently.  Soso Jamabo was in street clothes, and after Bolu Olorunfunmi started last week, today it was Nate Starks who got the nod.  He gained 43 yards on 7 carries and caught 3 passes for 68 yards.  One of those catches was on a trick play double pass thrown by Tight End Caleb Wilson, netting 39 of those yards.

Wilson was the Receiving workhorse last week, so maybe Hawaii saw the tapes and tried to hold Wilson down.  They allowed him only 3 catches. So, Rosen found two other Receivers to carry most of the load:  Andrews caught 4 balls for 92 yards and 3 TD’s, and Theo Howard broke out, catching SEVEN passes for 110 yards and 1 Touchdown.

Bolu did get into the game, and ran for a TD, as did Demetric Felton. The Bruins even scored on Defense, when Freshman Darnay Holmes snagged a Pick Six late in the 2nd quarter, sending the Bruins to Intermission with a 35-7 lead.  Despite that INT, the Defense was not in perfect form, allowing a shocking 515 yards of Total Offense.  However, Hawaii’s Offense is a lot better than Hawaii’s Defense, and has been for a long, long time.  Also, the Bruin D bent, but didn’t break too much.  They gave up all those yards, but only 3 TD’s, 2 of which came after there was a huge lead.  A lot of the yards were also gained against reserves.

There is one other excuse for the porous defensive performance:  The unit suffered injuries to three important starters:  Kenny Young, Adarius Pickett, and Jaleel Wadood.  None of them returned to action after being helped off the field.  The Bruins would be in huge trouble if those injuries turn out to be serious.  $C scored 42 on Stanford, and might put up 100 on an injury-depleted UCLA D unit.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Let’s just enjoy the Bruins’ current 2-and-0 start, and Josh Rosen’s Heisman-caliber stats.  And the Bruin Defense does have some up and coming stars, like Darnay Holmes, and the really prolific Freshman Jaelan Phillips, who continues to make a huge impact.  Nate Meadors also impresses frequently in coverage, despite his two penalties and a TD given up today.

The Bruins head out on the road now, to Memphis and then to Stanford.  If the Defense stays healthy and Rosen keeps rolling, they will handle Memphis and then try to break a lengthy losing streak to the Trees.  Stanford looked pretty good for a while at $C, but they couldn’t really stop $C’s Offense at all.  If not for two great Interceptions off of Sam Darnold, the trojans might have put up 60 points.  But my point is that they are vulnerable to a good passing QB, and UCLA has one of those.  But again, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.  Memphis IN Memphis is not a guaranteed win.  One game at a time.  Let’s just concentrate on getting the record up to 3-and-0.

I took 899 photos today.  I have 130 to share now.  Lots more will be posted during these three weeks before the next home game.  I will split today’s 130 into two articles.  Special thanks go out to the three Spirit Squad members (Courtney, Sydney, and Roslyn) who manned (“wo-manned?) the autograph booth, for their kindness and tolerance.