# #

Late Rally Falls Short Against No. 8 UCLA in 50-36 Loss

by thesundevils.com
Nov 6, 2022

A late fourth-quarter Sun Devil comeback fell short against the No. 10 UCLA Bruins, 50-36, on Saturday night in Sun Devil Stadium.

Fans were barely getting seated when Chris Edmonds picked off Bruin Dorian Thompson-Robinson on the first play of the game. The Sun Devils drove down the field and opened up the scoring with a Carter Brown 25-yard field goal to give the Sun Devils an early advantage. The first quarter saw a combined 24 points and 270 yards of total offense, as both teams traded blows. After taking a 10-7 lead, UCLA would go on to score 21 unanswered points, until the third quarter when Sun Devils quarterback Trenton Bourguet threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Badger and a successful 2-point conversion to make the score, 35-18.

From there, the Sun Devils mounted their comeback bid. The Sun Devils were able to cut the lead to 42-36 after running back Xazavian Valladay scored from one yard out and wide receiver Andre Johnson caught the two-point conversion to bring the Sun Devils within six. But a late score by UCLA and a Bourguet interception ended the comeback bid on Salute to Service Night.

"It was a tough one tonight," head coach Shaun Aguano said. "I talked to the team and I told them the couple of things that I asked them to play until the last whistle. I take all the blame for not preparing us defensively and offensively for this game. It's not on them, it's on me. So I want to make sure that everybody understands that and we'll get it fixed, but our kids played until the last whistle. The fans showed up tonight and we didn't take care of it in the first half. We did get back in the game at the end but I wanted to thank them, too, for trying to be there for us. We wished that the outcome was a little different but our kids played their heart out."

Bourguet continued to flourish as QB1, throwing for 349 yards and two touchdowns, on 38-of-49 passing. 

Valladay continued to impress as a Sun Devil, racking up over a 180 yards of total offense. Valladay was Bourguet's favorite target tonight as he caught ten receptions for 89 yards and added 92 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.The tight end group continued their upward trend of production with Messiah Swinson catching two passes for 15 yards and a touchdown, and Jaylin Conyers catching seven passes for 66 yards. Elijah Badger continued to display his dynamic play making ability racking up 83 yards and a touchdown.

First Quarter

  • Chris Edmonds started the game with a first-play interception from Thompson-Robinson, giving the Sun Devils the ball at the Bruins' 40-yard-line. 
  • The Sun Devils drove down in eight plays to open up the scoring off a Carter Brown 25-yard field goal. 3-0 ASU
  • The Bruins responded with a seven-play drive, capped by a Thompson-Robinson 14-yard touchdown run. 7-3 ASU
  • A three-yard touchdown pass by Bourguet to tight end Swinson gave back the Sun Devils lead. 10-7 ASU
  • The Bruins capped off the scoring in the first quarter with a three-yard touchdown pass by Thompson-Robinson to Keegan Jones. 14-10 UCLA

Second Quarter

  • After trading punts to open the quarter, the Bruins added to their lead off of a three-yard touchdown run by Jones. 21-10 UCLA
  • Thompson-Robinson nine-yard touchdown pass to Michael Ezeike. 28-10 UCLA

Third Quarter

  • Thompson-Robinson four-yard rushing touchdown. 35-10 UCLA
  • Bourguet seven-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Badger. A two-point conversion pass to X Valladay is successful. 35-18 UCLA
  • Kazmeir 75-yard rushing touchdown. 42-18 UCLA
  • Valladay one-yard rushing touchdown. 42-25 UCLA

Fourth Quarter

  • The Sun Devils opened up the fourth quarter with defensive end Joe Moore recovering a Thompson-Robinson fumble. It was the Sun Devils' first fumble recovery of the season.
  • The Sun Devils chipped away at the score with a Brown 36-yard field goal. 42-28 UCLA
  • Valladay one-yard rushing touchdown. A two-point conversion pass to Johnson is successful. 42-36 UCLA
  • Colson Yankoff one-yard rushing touchdown. 50-36 UCLA.

The Sun Devils are on the road next week, as they travel to Pullman, Washington, to face the Washington State Cougars. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT/1:30 P.M. MST on Pac-12 Network.

Related News & Videos