Longtime nemesis dooms UCLA in stunning Sun Bowl loss to Pittsburgh

El Paso, Texas –

For a few lost minutes, it looked like the final image of Dorian Thompson-Robinson in a UCLA uniform would be him slowly walking off the field into a tunnel, his left arm draped over a trainer’s shoulder.

The injured quarterback was given a reprieve Friday afternoon when his team picked up a fourth downstop and almost drove the entire field for the starting points against Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl. Thompson-Robinson returned to the field, clapping hands with cheering teammates as a wide smile split his face, the Bruins apparently en route to an epic comeback victory with just 34 seconds remaining.

In the end, there was only a dazed expression as Thompson-Robinson took another dejected walk back to the tunnel, his face capturing the essence of what had just happened during No. 18 UCLA’s crushing 37-35 rout.

“Tough finish,” said Bruins coach Chip Kelly, somewhat understatement.

UCLA looked like it could withstand the loss of its quarterback to an apparent lower back injury, the outcome changing during the final minutes as if it were being tossed about by the gusts of wind overtaking the stadium.

In the end, it was an old nemesis who doomed the Bruins on a day when they gave up 20 unanswered points.

Their defense.

With only three defenders in Pittsburgh’s final offensive series, which the Panthers started on their own 25-yard line with 34 seconds left and no timeouts, the Bruins couldn’t prevent the Panthers from quickly moving into field goal range.

“That was the plan,” Kelly said, “but we obviously didn’t get the right way out of that.”

Pittsburgh’s backup quarterback Nick Patti found holes, even with all the extra defensive backs falling into cover, hoping to protect the Bruins’ 35-34 lead. He completed one pass for 18 yards. Another for 17 meters. Finally seeing nothing to his liking, he stuffed the ball in his arm and started running, gaining another 11 yards to the UCLA 29 with 10 seconds left.

Kicker Ben Sauls ran onto the field, who had made all four of his previous field goals. He added a fifth to the 47-year-old with four seconds remaining, sprinting in celebration to the far end zone as his teammates poured into the field.

UCLA backup quarterback Ethan Garbers’ final desperation pass was intercepted, sending the Bruins (9-4) to their third loss in four games as part of a huge season-ending damper. Several Pittsburgh players waved goodbye to their UCLA counterparts who lingered on the field in stunned silence.

The Bruins started the game without star running back Zach Charbonnet, whose absence partially made up for the series of holes in the roster. Pittsburgh (9-4) was forced to plug in with its best quarterback and run back, among other things. Kelly said Charbonnet was warming up but “wasn’t 100%”, leading the team to hold him back as a precaution.

For three-quarters it seemed like a joyous farewell for Thompson-Robinson. He batted on an 11-yard touchdown pass to Logan Loya, earning an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, and made airplane wings with his arms as he ran down the field to celebrate a 49-yard completion to Titus Mokiao-Atimalala.

Going into the fourth quarter, the Bruins had a 28–21 lead and Thompson-Robinson needed just 14 passing yards to surpass Cade McNown’s school record of 10,708 yards. But Thompson-Robinson didn’t see Pittsburgh linebacker Bangally Kamara, who stepped for a pass to record the Panthers’ third interception. The first had gone off Loya’s hands and the second off Michael Ezeike’s chest at high speed.

“I think the wideout coach will say we have to get him, the quarterback coach will say we have to put him somewhere else,” Kelly said. “That’s football – sometimes the ball bounces in strange ways and you have to make adjustments.”

Thompson-Robinson never returned, cameras later showed him crying on the sidelines. A manager held up a towel to give him privacy on a day when the Bruins didn’t bring their injury tent. He finished his final game with 16 of 24 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns in addition to three interceptions and one rushing touchdown.

“That’s my boy,” said Bruins guard Jon Gaines II, “so it sucked to see him go down.”

With momentum on its side, Pittsburgh tied the score on Rodney Hammond Jr.’s seven-yard touchdown run with 12:44 remaining. The Panthers added two field goals to take a 34–28 lead with 4:24 remaining.

It looked like the Bruins were headed for defeat as Kamara Garbers rushed to a fourth-down incompletion, the Panthers took over at the UCLA 37 with only 2:21 left.

But the Panthers couldn’t pick up a first down and the Bruins gave themselves another chance thanks to all three timeouts.

UCLA took over at its own 30-yard line with 2:01 left, scoring in just eight plays. Garbers completed two of three passes, including a 14-year-old to Jake Bobo, and freshman TJ Harden cut out for an eight-yard touchdown run that gave the Bruins a 35–34 lead with 34 seconds remaining.

A wild party erupted on the UCLA sidelines, players happily fluttering around and waving towels.

“We felt like we scored there with less than a minute to go,” said Kelly, “hopefully we did enough.”

No.

The return of defensive coordinator Bill McGovern from health issues that had forced him to miss the previous five games was bittersweet, the Bruins not being able to get the stop they needed.

There were no silver linings for Thompson-Robinson, a Heisman Trophy contender before his team’s end-of-season slide cost him the end he wanted.

“You feel for him,” Kelly said. “He’s just such a warrior, and if he couldn’t go, then you know he gave it his all. He just did that here for five years.”

His college career was complete, there was no more delay, there was only one lonely walk left to take.

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