No. 13 Washington State’s undefeated season disappeared with four turnovers in a 25-17 loss to UCLA on Saturday.
The Cougars had a chance for a game-tying drive with 4:18 to go but failed to convert a 4th and 1 with less than two minutes remaining. Washington State called a timeout before the play and went with a QB keeper with Cam Ward, but Ward was stopped before he came close to the sticks.
The Bruins offense was on the field for nearly 40 minutes and ran 104 plays before kneeling out the clock with a minute to go.
UCLA dominated the first half but Washington State entered halftime with the lead thanks to an incredible play by Kapena Gushiken. The Bruins were driving for a 16-3 lead but Gushiken blitzed QB Dante Moore and intercepted a pass from Moore right after it left his hand. Gushiken then took the ball 88 yards for a 10-9 halftime lead.
Washington State got its first offensive TD of the game in the third quarter when Ward hit Nakia Watson for a nine-yard TD and a 17-12 lead. But UCLA closed the game out thanks to two fourth-quarter touchdowns and a Washington State turnover.
UCLA RB Keegan Jones gave UCLA an 18-17 lead with 13:28 to go on a 13-yard TD. Ward then threw his second interception of the game on the Cougars’ next offensive play and Jones scored on a 22-yard run four plays later for what turned out to be the winning margin.
Washington State had the ball three times after Jones’ second touchdown but went three-and-out on two drives before turning the ball over on downs on its last possession. The Cougars ran just 59 offensive plays.
The Pac-12 is extremely deep
UCLA’s win will likely get the Bruins back in the AP Top 25 on Sunday after a loss at Utah in Week 5 knocked the Bruins from the top 25. UCLA’s defense has been phenomenal this season; No one has scored more than 13 offensive points against the Bruins through five games.
But as good as UCLA’s defense is, the Bruins’ ceiling this season depends on its highly-touted freshman QB. Moore was 22-of-44 passing for 290 yards and a TD but also threw two interceptions. He’s completing less than 55% of his passes and has thrown nine touchdowns and four interceptions through five games.
If Moore improves over the second-half of the season, UCLA is a contender — especially if it can get a win at Oregon State in Week 7. After that, UCLA faces four unranked opponents before playing USC on Nov. 18.
Washington State is still in the mix too, though it has tough trips to Oregon and Washington remaining. The Cougars had scored at least 31 points in each of its first four games of the season before nearly doubling its season turnover total on Saturday.
Both teams are emblematic of just how good the Pac-12 is in 2023. The Pac-12 and SEC are the two deepest conferences in college football this season and there are at least seven teams — USC, Oregon, Washington, Oregon State, Utah, UCLA and Washington State — who can consider themselves contenders to be playing for the Pac-12 title in December.