Arizona Wildcats shock No. 9 UCLA in Pasadena

PASADENA, California. (KOLD News 13) - Arizona knocked off No. 9 UCLA, 34-28, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, on Saturday, Nov. 12.

With the upset, the Wildcats (4-6 Pac-12, 2-5) played spoiler to the Bruins (8-2, 5-2), who were fighting to stay in the hunt for the Pac-12 title.

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura passed for two touchdowns and 315 yards in the win. Michael Wiley ran for 97 yards and one touchdown.

Dorian Thompson-Robinson threw for 245 yards and one touchdown for the Bruins while Zach Charbonnet ran for 181 yards and three touchdowns.

Arizona had not won in Pasadena since 2010 when the No. 15 Wildcats beat the Bruins, 29-21.

The Bruins had a chance to grab the victory, but three long passes into the end zone fell incomplete.

A 17-yard touchdown pass from de Laura to Tetairoa McMillan gave the Wildcats a 31-28 lead with 6:34 left in the game. From there, the Wildcats defense came up big and forced the Bruins to turn it over on downs at UCLA’s 36-yard line.

A 23-yard field goal by Tyler Loop capped the scoring.

The Bruins took their first lead, 28-24, with 10:22 left in the game on a 5-yard run by Charbonnet.

After UCLA tied the score at 21 in the third quarter, the Wildcats took the lead again with a 35-yard field goal by Loop.

With a catch in the third quarter, his second of the game and 29th of the season, Tyler McLachlan moved ahead of Rob Gronkowski for the third-most catches by an Arizona tight end in a single season.

The Wildcats jumped to a quick 14-0 lead and entered the half up 21-14.

Wiley started the scoring with a 10-yard run with 8:47 left in the first quarter, then caught a 22-yard scoring pass from de Laura with 3:50 left in the quarter.

After UCLA tied the score at 14 in the second quarter, the Wildcats pulled ahead again on a 3-yard run by de Laura with 2:01 left in the half.

Wide receiver Jacob Cowing caught a 14-yard pass on the game’s first play from scrimmage to increase his streak to 42 straight games with a completion.

Arizona opened its season with a 38-20 win over San Diego State, lost 39-17 to Mississippi State, beat North Dakota State 31-28, lost its Pac-12 opener 49-31 at Cal, crushed Colorado 43-20, lost to No. 12 Oregon 49-22, lost to No. 10 Southern Cal 45-37 and fell to No. 12 Utah 45-20 last week.

The Wildcats next host Washington State on Nov. 19 and rival Arizona State on Nov. 25.

Washington State (6-4, 3-4) was a 28-18 winner over ASU (3-7, 2-5) in Pullman, Washington, on Saturday.

Saturday’s game was the 47th all-time meeting between the Wildcats and Bruins, with UCLA holding a 27-18-2 edge in the all-time series.

The Wildcats entered with a two-game losing streak to the Bruins. UA’s last win against UCLA was 20-17 in Tucson in 2019.

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