UCLA Pulls Away Late To Hand Arizona 34-16 Loss

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Brittain Brown ran for 146 yards and a touchdown, Dorian Thompson-Robinson accounted for three touchdowns and UCLA extended Arizona's school-record losing streak to 17 games with a 34-16 victory Saturday night.

UCLA (4-2, 2-1 Pac-12) relied on its ground game early as Thompson-Robinson struggled to find the mark and Brown sealed the victory with a 48-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Thompson-Robinson was limited to 82 yards passing, but ran for two scores and threw for another.

Arizona (0-5, 0-2) struggled in the red zone after moving the ball well against the Bruins and lost quarterback Jordan McCloud to a right knee injury in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats scored one touchdown in six trips across midfield - three in the red zone - and McCloud was in tears as he was helped off the field after getting twisted up in a sack.

Coming off a 42-23 loss to Arizona State the Bruins went to the ground early against Arizona.

UCLA had 165 yards rushing by halftime and Thompson-Robinson had a hand in two touchdowns. He threw a 3-yard TD pass to Chris Dulcich in the first quarter and scored a 2-yard run in the second to put UCLA up 14-6.

Thompson-Robinson started to hit a few passes in the second half, setting up a 4-yard keeper that put UCLA up 24-16. Brown put the game out of reach by bursting up the middle for his 48-yard score.

The Wildcats have shown signs that their losing streak might come to an end soon and were coming off a bye week.

They had the Bruins on their heels early with their up-tempo offense, marching down the field throughout the first half.

Finishing drives continued to be a problem.

The Wildcats, 124th nationally in red-zone efficiency, had to settle for two field goals after reaching UCLA's 9- and 20-yard lines. A third drive ended at UCLA's 28 on a failed fourth-and-1.

A trick play finally got the Wildcats into the end zone. McCloud threw a back pass to Jamarye Joiner, who then hit Michael Wiley for a 10-yard TD to pull Arizona within 14-13 at halftime.

Arizona reached UCLA's 15 on its opening second-half drive, only to settle for another field goal, thanks to a penalty for blocking below the waist.

Then McCloud went down and so did the Wildcats' chances.

THE TAKEAWAY

UCLA racked up 337 yards rushing and buckled down on the Wildcats defensively in its own end of the field to avoid losing to a team that hasn't won since 2019.

Arizona's red-zone woes continued to take toll. A bigger concern could be McCloud's knee.

UP NEXT

UCLA plays at Washington next Saturday.

Arizona is at Colorado next Saturday.