Jayden de Laura passed for 315 yards and two touchdowns, and Arizona’s defense made a last-second stop as the Wildcats eliminated any College Football Playoff hopes for No. 12 UCLA with a 34-28 upset in Pasadena, Calif., on Saturday night.
UCLA (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) began its final drive at its 28 with 1:07 left and no timeouts. The Bruins reached the Arizona 29, but Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw four incomplete passes, including a heave to a diving Jake Bobo at the back of the end zone on the final play.
Arizona (4-6, 2-5) ended a four-game skid and beat a ranked team for the first time since defeating No. 19 Oregon on Oct. 27, 2018.
de Laura completed 22 of 28 passes without an interception. Jacob Cowing caught nine passes for 118 yards.
Arizona had enough offense to offset the return of UCLA running back Zach Charbonnet, who missed last week’s game at Arizona State due to an unspecified injury. He ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns, also catching nine passes for 38 yards. Thompson-Robinson was 26 of 39 for 245 yards and a touchdown.
Arizona led for most of the game and went up 24-21 with 13:20 to go on Tyler Loop’s 35-yard field goal, but UCLA grabbed its first advantage three minutes later when Charbonnet rushed for his third touchdown, a 5-yarder. He rushed six times for 66 yards on the go-ahead drive, including converting a fourth-and-3 with a 6-yard gain.
The Wildcats snatched back the lead with 6:34 left when de Laura hit Tetairoa McMillan for a 17-yard touchdown on fourth-and-4 for a 31-28 advantage.
UCLA then failed to convert fourth-and-6 at its 36 with 5:47 to go. Arizona wasn’t able to put the game away, taking valuable time off the clock but settling for Loop’s 23-yard field goal with 1:07 left.
Arizona led 14-0 late in the first quarter on two Michael Wiley touchdowns — one rushing, one receiving — and was up 21-14 at halftime after de Laura scored on a 3-yard keeper with 2:01 left.
–Field Level Media
