Josh Rosen threw for 351 easy yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, and #13 UCLA tapped out UVA, 34-16, in the teams’ 2015 season opener at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.
Rosen, a true freshman, was rarely touched by a UVA defense that had made life difficult a year earlier for his predecessor, Brett Hundley. Hundley had been sacked five times in the 2014 matchup, but Rosen was sacked just once, and the ‘Hoos didn’t register a single quarterback hurry on the day as Rosen completed 28 of his 35 pass attempts before being lifted for backup Jerry Neuheisel in the fourth quarter.
It was still a game at the half, even as Virginia had trouble converting its offensive drives into points, getting three first-half field goals by Ian Frye, two on trips inside the red zone. Rosen threw for two first-half touchdowns en route to posting a 17-9 lead heading into the locker room.
After the team traded punts to start the third quarter, Rosen led UCLA on an 11-play, 85-yard drive that culminated in a 1-yard TD run by Myles Jack that made it 24-9 at the 7:37 mark of the third quarter.
UVA quarterback Matt Johns was intercepted on the Cavs’ next series, and the Bruins capitalized with a six-play, 67-yard drive that Rosen capped with his third TD pass of the day, a 3-yarder to Kenny Clark that made it 31-9.
A Ka’imi Fairbairn 21-yard field goal pushed the margin to 34-9 with 7:05 to go. Johns connected with Taquan Mizzell on a 19-yard TD pass with 3:29 left to account for the final margin.
Johns was 21-for-35 passing for 238 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and a 120.8 passer rating.
Mizzell ran 16 times for 45 yards and caught eight passes for 100 yards. Canaan Severin had five catches for 58 yards.
Albert Reid ran 12 times for 31 yards. Virginia gained 98 yards on 34 carries, 2.9 yards per carry, while UCLA ran for 152 yards on 34 carries, 4.5 yards per run.
The Bruins finished with 503 yards of total offense on 71 snaps, 7.1 yards per play. UVA gained 336 yards on 69 plays from scrimmage, 4.9 yards per play.
– Story by Chris Graham
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