Football Drops Opener at UCLA, 45-44

Sunday, September 3

Pasadena, Calif.

6:30 p.m.

Texas A&M

0-1

UCLA

1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas A&M

UCLA

Photo by: Thomas Campbell/Texas A&M Athletics

Sep 03, 2017 | Football

Box Score Box: UCLA 45, A&M 44 Photos Postgame Notes Postgame Press Conferences

By: Associated Press / Texas A&M Media Relations

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Josh Rosen faked a spike and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley with 43 seconds remaining and UCLA overcame a 34-point deficit to stun Texas A&M 45-44 on Sunday night.

Rosen was 35 of 59 for 491 yards and four touchdowns, and Jalen Starks and Soso Jamabo had touchdown runs for the Bruins in the opener for both teams. They overcame a deficit of more than 20 points for the first time since the 2005 Sun Bowl against Northwestern.

Texas A&M quarterback Kellen Mond was stopped short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down scramble with 20 seconds left.

UCLA scored on five straight possessions after trailing 44-10 with 4:08 to play in the third quarter. Rosen threw touchdown passes of 9 and 42 yards to Darren Andrews before finding Theo Howard for a 16-yard score on a broken play with 3:08 remaining.

UCLA got the ball back with 2:39 to go and drove 51 yards in seven plays, including an 11-yard throw and catch to tight end Caleb Wilson. Rosen capped the remarkable comeback with a fade to the far corner of the end zone after faking the spike to freeze Texas A&M's defense. JJ Molson kicked the winning extra point.

Wilson had 15 receptions for 203 yards, and Andrews had 12 catches for 147 yards.

Trayveon Williams rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and Keith Ford added 114 yards rushing and three touchdowns for Texas A&M. The Aggies lost for only the second time in six openers under coach Kevin Sumlin.

Rosen spent much of the game under constant pressure from Texas A&M for the second straight season until mounting the stunning comeback. After being sacked five times last season in a 31-24 overtime loss at College Station, Rosen was dropped three times and lost two fumbles in his return after missing the final six games last year with a shoulder injury.

Texas A&M had largely dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, rushing for 382 yards and limiting UCLA to 70 yards on the ground. Williams had a 72-yard run where he bounced outside and raced down the UCLA sideline, which set up a 2-yard rushing touchdown by Ford, and the sophomore added a 61-yard scoring run late in the first half.

Redshirt freshman Nick Starkel got the start at quarterback for Texas A&M, and completed his first three throws during an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run by Ford.

The touted freshman Mond entered the game on the sixth possession for Texas A&M and played the entire second half after Starkel suffered an apparent left foot injury. Starkel returned to the sideline on crutches with his foot in a walking boot.

Mond was 3 of 17 for 27 yards and rushed for 55 yards on 15 carries, and Starkel was 6 of 13 for 62 yards.

WILLIAMS PLAYING FOR H-TOWN

With his mother watching from a shelter in Houston after being evacuated via boat due to Hurricane Harvey last week, sophomore Trayveon Williams had a huge game against UCLA.

Williams had 188 rushing yards and two touchdowns by halftime and finished the game with 203 yards on 22 carries with two scores.
It was the second 200-yard rushing game of his 14-game career. He becomes just the fourth Aggie with multiple 200-yard games, joining Darren Lewis (4), Bob Smith (2) and Cyrus Gray (2).
Always a breakaway threat, Williams broke off a 72-yard run and scored on a 61-yard TD jaunt.
Voted a team captain last week, Williams was a four-star recruit from C.E. King HS in Houston.

WATTS FILLS THE STAT SHEET...

Noted play-maker Armani Watts opened his senior campaign with a huge night against UCLA.

Watts had a team-high 13 tackles, including 12 solo stops and also contributed a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, a forced fumble and two passes broken up.

NOTABLES ...

Texas A&M rushed for 376 yards, which was the most since rushing for 381 vs. Arkansas on Oct. 1, 2011. It was Texas A&M's third 300-yard rushing game in 14 games with Noel Mazzone as the play-caller.
RBs Trayveon Williams () and Keith Ford () surpassed the 100-yard barrier in rushing yards in the same game for the first time.
It was the fourth 100-yard game for Williams and the second of Ford's A&M career.
Texas A&M had a 200-yard rusher and a 100-yard rusher in the same game for a second straight season. Last year Williams (217 yards) and QB Trevor Knight (110) did it against Tennesee.
True freshman Myles Jones, who wasn't on the Aggies' depth chart entering the game, started vs. UCLA and responded with three tackles, tackle for loss and two broken up passes.
Senior DB Armani Watts had a team-high 12 tackles, which put him over the 250 plateau for his career.
The 44 points marked the Aggies' highest scoring output in the state of California, surpassed the previous of 42 points in a 42-0 win over the San Francisco Dons in 1937.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS

Offense

WR Jhamon Ausbon (Fr-HS)
TE Aaron Hansford (Fr-RS)
QB Nick Starkel (Fr-RS)
OG Ryan McCollum (Fr-RS)

Defense

LB Tyrel Dodson (So-1L)
CB Myles Jones (Fr-HS)

Others seeing first action:

True freshmen: WR Roshaaud Paul, LB Buddy Johnson, DB Keldrick Carper, LB Anthony Hines III, OL Carson Green, DL Jayden Peevy, QB Kellen Mond, OL Jared Hocker, DL Josh Rogers, WR Hezekiah Jones, WR Camron Buckley
Redshirt freshmen/transfers: WR Kendrick Rogers, TE Aaron Hansford, CB Travon Fuller, LB Braden White, DL Justin Madubuike, DE Micheal Clemons, WR Clyde Chriss, DB Antonio Howard.

GAME CAPTAINS, 12TH MAN

Game captains for the Aggies were Cullen Gillaspia, Christian Kirk Trayveon Williams, Donovan Wilson and Armani Watts. Texas A&M won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half.
The Aggies' 12th Man representative was junior LB Cullen Gillaspia (Katy, Texas) in his 14th straight start.

POSTGAME QUOTES
UCLA 45, Texas A&M 44
Pasadena, Calif. (Rose Bowl)
September 3, 2017

Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin

on how to explain a game such as this
"You don't explain it. It's like [I said] before the season, we're not going to make excuses. We didn't get it done as coaches. There's different personnel and different people playing. We got a young team, and we have to put them in position to make plays, and we did in the first half because of our pass rush and defensive ability to stop the run. Josh Rosen threw up some balls that we should have had and didn't get that resulted in touchdowns. Those plays that are at the end of drive that really affected the outcome of the game. The plays that ended in the end zone are a result of the plays in between that don't seem like a big deal, but end up in something big. We've got two players that are going to be evaluated tomorrow. Two guys that change the game dramatically on both sides. At the end, they made more plays than we did in the second half."

on play calling and time management in the fourth quarter
"No. We were conservative early in the third quarter. We've gotta' give [Kellen] the chance to make the decisions and hand it off. Obviously, they changed their defense and they really dared us to throw it. They got to us with their pass rush. In a game like that, it's not just him. It's me. When you start to get the feeling that a team is going up and down the field you need to do some things to score, and we had some people that were nicked up as well. The personnel plays into it, too, [with] what's going on down the stretch. The other side, too, we felt that we needed to score. Controlling the clock is one thing which is something I thought we did a good job of the whole game, but that fourth quarter, the way the game was being played, it's a decision that you have to make to try to stay ahead. If we make the throws, catch some balls, I don't think we made one competitive play on the perimeter today, and with that it isn't necessarily all on the QB. Those 50-50 balls, we need to make a play. So that happens, and the defense changes when you run it and punt it, which we did in the third quarter. We have to make those decisions."

UCLA head coach Jim Mora
opening remarks
"Here's what I thought and told our guys. We're trying to build something special here. It all starts with the culture. And tonight, I saw us take a step in a positive direction. It started January 6 when they came back after a disappointing season last year. We went to work. Every day since, I've just seen an attitude and a camaraderie, a sense of purpose, a brotherhood that started to form. We knew that this would not be an easy game. We didn't know we'd be down by 28 points at halftime. I was so impressed with how they managed their emotions at halftime and how they came back in the second half. They had confidence in each other. They had a ton of poise. I saw a coaching staff that made great adjustments. I saw players who embraced those adjustments. They owned that. When you do that, you're capable of doing stuff that you did tonight. We have to be able to run the ball better than we did. I thought we could run it better. We didn't run it well enough. I thought we could stop the run better. While we are excited about the win, there are a lot of things to improve on. We will celebrate here for a little bit, but then we'll watch the film and critique it hard. We have a short week. We've got to get over this one. I'm really proud of these guys. I told them at halftime, 'Let's not look at the scoreboard. Let's play football, one play at a time.' They did that. It worked out, and we'll take it."

on quarterback Josh Rosen
"In the first half, as a team, we weren't in an aggressive mindset. It was surprising to me. We have practiced and demonstrated an aggressive mindset. I just felt like we were a little bit hesitant on both sides of the ball. When you aren't dropping back and just ripping it like Josh is capable of doing, it looks like it did in the first half. In the second half, we were on our toes more, leaning into it. Nowhere was it more evident than in Josh's play. He found Caleb [Wilson], a sure-handed guy who made plays over the middle. And as he made plays, his confidence and our confidence grew."