Derrick Coleman scored a rushing touchdown from one yard out with 4:25 remaining in the second quarter, giving the UCLA Bruins a 16-14 lead at halftime over the No. 20 Arizona St. Sun Devils. The winner of Saturday's college football contest at the Rose Bowl will be in first place in the Pac-12 South Division.
The run by Coleman capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive for UCLA, which chewed up over six minutes on the clock. Coleman ran for 36 yards on six carries on that drive alone, and was part of a three-headed ground attack for the Bruins in the first half. Quarterback Kevin Prince ran for 42 yards on eight carries and tailback Johnathan Franklin picked up 33 yards on eight carries.
Earlier in the quarter, senior kicker Tyler Gonzalez, who was the manager of the UCLA soccer team the last two years, recovered from his missed extra-point in the first quarter to kick a career-long 43-yard field goal with 12:17 remaining in the second quarter. The bad part for UCLA was that the field goal by Gonzalez completed a scoring "drive" that lost seven yards.
Josh Smith returned a kickoff 78 yards to the ASU 19-yard line to set up the Bruins with great field position, but they couldn't capitalize. Kevin Prince lost two yards on a rushing attempt on first down, was sacked for a five-yard loss on second down, then lost the ball after nearly getting sacked on third down, but the final play was ruled an incomplete pass.
The Sun Devils returned the favor of not converting a strong kickoff return, as Jamal Miles returned the ball to the UCLA 43-yard line, but Arizona St. went three and out and were forced to punt.
UCLA will need to do a better job defensively in the second half, as Arizona St. racked up 15 first downs and 246 yards on offense in the opening half. The Bruins will receive the kickoff to open the third quarter.
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