UCLA runs all over Colorado to improve to 4-0

BOULDER, Colo. — Dorian Thompson-Robinson couldn’t miss, Zach Charbonnet looked sharp and the UCLA football team got an important win ahead of a showdown with Washington next week.

Thompson-Robinson was 19-for-23 passing for 234 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 56 yards in less than three quarters of play in UCLA’s 45-17 win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the Pac-12 Conference opener Saturday.

Charbonnet rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries in an efficient and explosive performance. UCLA (4-0, 1-0) averaged 8.9 yards per play before playing more conservatively in the fourth quarter and amassed 515 total yards to break a three-game losing streak in Boulder.

It was the first time the Bruins have won at Colorado since a 40-37, two-overtime thriller in 2014.

“Anytime you get a conference one on the road, that’s huge,” Bruins head coach Chip Kelly said. “Everybody in that locker room wasn’t here in 2014. Some of these kids were in elementary school, so those things don’t really mean anything. They’re facts, but they don’t really pertain to this group.”

Colson Yankoff had two short touchdown catches and Matt Sykes also had a TD reception for the Bruins, who held the ball for just 25 minutes, 53 seconds.

“We missed a short fourth down that we went for, but I thought they were clicking,” Kelly said of the offense. “Dorian got the ball to a lot of different receivers today.”

The defense was also sharp against the offensively challenged Buffaloes (0-1, 0-4). Laiatu Latu had three of the team’s five sacks, a near interception and a forced fumble. Carl Jones Jr. had an interception that led to Ethan Garbers’ three-yard TD pass to Yankoff on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Garbers was 3-for-6 passing for 32 yards and the touchdown.

UCLA’s defense did that without defensive linemen Jay Toia (injury) and Gabriel Murphy (ejection) for most of the game. Murphy was tossed for targeting with 5:59 left in the first quarter when he hit quarterback Owen McCown just after he released a pass, drove him into the turf and McCown’s helmet came off.

“I thought they responded well to losing Murph early to the targeting penalty,” Kelly said. “I thought they did a really nice job just from what you can see from the sideline.”

Colorado held the ball for 6:05 on its first drive while it took UCLA just 7:35 to scored three touchdowns and take a 21-3 lead.

“That’s what we want to do want, to start fast,” Thompson-Robinson said. “I talked to all the boys this morning, letting them know that this is type of game where we need to come out there with the wheels rolling and being able to start fast and not try and put ourselves in a hole.”

Thompson-Robinson connected with Sykes on a 24-yard TD pass on the first possession and Charbonnet had scoring runs of 35 and 13 yards.

“I feel like we started off the game strong, something that we’ve been struggling to do the last few games,” Sykes said. “Today, we show that we can come out strong and really set our pace and not try and play from behind.”

Costly penalties kept drives alive for the Buffaloes, including two on the last – and most successful – drive of the day for the Buffaloes.

Latu was flagged for roughing the passer on a third-and-6 from near midfield to give Colorado a first down at the UCLA 36. Minutes later, an offside call after the Bruins had stopped the Buffaloes on a third-and-goal at the 4 led to McCown running it in on fourth down.

“When you get out there you’re on that field, you want to you want to make a play, you want to win,” Latu said of the roughing penalty on McCown. “I think that’s just how we’re feeling. We’ll clean that up come next week.”

UCLA blew it open in the second half, covering 75 yards on four plays capped by Charbonnet’s 46-yard TD run. Nicholas Barr-Mira kicked a 44-yard field goal and Thompson-Robinson left after throwing a two-yard TD pass to Yankoff with 6:03 left in the third.

With the Huskies coming to the Rose Bowl on Friday night, the Bruins rested most of their starters for the final quarter and still cruised in the conference opener

“It’s huge,” Sykes said of winning on the road. “Next we’ve got a Friday game against Washington at home. That’s huge. I think this win is a great one. Momentum for next week.”