TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 19 UCLA left Tucson battered and bruised with a 27-10 loss Saturday night to upstart Arizona.
UCLA (6-3 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) lost safety Kamari Ramsey, quarterbacks Ethan Garbers and Dante Moore and defensive end Gabriel Murphy to injuries during the course of the game.
Garbers couldn’t put weight on his left foot after the game.
UCLA coach Chip Kelly said he does not know of the status of the players.
When asked what he told the team after the demoralizing loss, Kelly said, “There’s a process, a schedule for tomorrow to watch the film. We’ll dissect this and go through this. … It stings and it hurts because of how much they put into this.”
Arizona has defeated three Associated Press Top 25 teams in consecutive games for the first time in program history. The Wildcats previously beat No. 19 Washington State and No. 11 Oregon State. The Bruins entered the game ranked No. 20 in the AP poll and No. 19 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings for the 2023 season.
Jedd Fisch, the former UCLA assistant and interim coach, has led Arizona into bowl eligibility for the first time since 2017.
“Six wins is a big deal and for us to get there nine games into the season, I’m really excited about that,” said Fisch, who was 1-11 in his first year in 2021 and 5-7 last year.
The Wildcats’ offense was efficient against UCLA’s defense, which entered the game rated No. 10 allowing 277.5 yards per game.
UCLA allowed Arizona 429 yards in total offense. The Wildcats were 11 of 16 in third-down conversion attempts.
The Servite High School connection of Noah Fifita to Tetaiora McMillan including four completions for 81 yards and a touchdown for Arizona.
“We have a good defense; they did a really nice job,” Kelly said. “There was a lot of times we got them into (third and) longs. Fifita made one scramble that was a big one on third down. You have to give T-Mac (McMillan) credit.
“We knew coming in, we felt he was one of the top receivers, if not one of the top receivers in the country. The catches he made today, we had people on him and he still makes the catch.”
The Bruins blew a scoring opportunity and an early chance at momentum after Alex Johnson made his fourth interception of the season in the first quarter.
Johnson took the pass from Fifita to the Arizona 39 following a 37-yard return with 11:33 remaining in the quarter.
A holding call by tackle Bruno Fina, a Tucson native, negated an 11-yard run by Garbers to the Arizona 4.
The Bruins were pushed back to the 25-yard line instead.
Kelly eventually was forced to call on new placekicker Blake Glessner to put the Bruins on the board. Glessner won a competition in practice during the week to get the nod.
Glessner’s 42-yard attempt sailed wide left, however.
RJ Lopez’s struggles (6 of 11 with his field goal attempts this season) forced the change at placekicker.
Glessner’s next attempt from 41 yards in the second quarter was blocked by Ephesians Prysock. Three of the Bruins’ attempts have been blocked throughout the last five games.
UCLA had at that point five consecutive missed field goal attempts over a three-game stretch.
“We’re trading threes for sevens and you can’t trade threes for sevens against a good offensive team like they have,” Kelly said. “We’ve got to do a better in the red zone. We should be scoring touchdowns instead of trying field goals.”
Glessner’s 29-yard field goal with 2:28 left in the third quarter, that cut Arizona’s lead to 17-10, snapped the streak of five straight missed attempts.
The field goal occurred when UCLA’s drive stalled at the 11 after it appeared that Garbers had a pass intercepted at the 1-yard line by Prysock, a Bishop Alemany product.
The rule was reversed when replays showed Garbers’ left knee on the ground when he passed the ball.
A replay benefitted Arizona on its next possession.
McMillan was first ruled out of bounds when he caught an 11-yard pass from Fifita on the left side of the end zone. The replay review deemed the catch a touchdown because McMillan controlled the ball while having one foot in the end zone.
Arizona led 24-10 with 14:37 remaining.
“Tonight, they just made more plays than us,” said Johnson, whose four interceptions this season are the most for UCLA since Randall Goforth had four in 2016. “They have great receivers and (Fifita) made good decisions down the stretch. That’s a great team.
“All we can do right now is look at the film, make the corrections and come back stronger for the next game (at home against Arizona State).”
A blocked punt by Kain Medrano gave UCLA life temporarily with 11:27 left. The Bruins gained possession at the Arizona 31.
Moore was in the game after Garbers could not return from his foot injury suffered on a sack early in the fourth quarter.
UCLA eventually turned the ball over on downs at Arizona 23 with 7:52 left.
Loop’s 22-yard field goal with 4:40 left completed the scoring.
