This post was updated Oct. 8 at 10:14 p.m.
Keegan Jones came into Saturday’s contest with zero carries.
The senior wide receiver notably switched position groups this offseason after being listed as a running back in his first four years with the team. Even then, he had just two receptions across four games.
But with their offense struggling to cross the goal line all afternoon, the Bruins gave Jones a pair of carries inside the Cougars’ 25-yard line.
He converted them both into scores.
The 5-foot-10 speedster scurried into the end zone twice in a one-minute, 43-second span to help turn a five-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 25-17 win for UCLA football (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) over No. 13 Washington State (4-1, 1-1). The pair of scores in the blazing-hot Rose Bowl matched his touchdown total for the entire 2022 season.
“He’s (Jones) lightning fast – blazing,” said junior running back Carson Steele. “Being able to have that threat kind of tucked in our belt for the offense, it really helps us out.”
Jones’ touchdowns erased what was a subpar start from the Bruins’ offense.
UCLA had scored on just three of their previous 12 drives, including two missed field goals and an interception inside the red zone. The lone touchdown was an 11-yard catch in the back right corner of the end zone by senior wide receiver Logan Loya early in the second quarter.
Nearly two full quarters after throwing an interception on his third play of the game – his second consecutive game with an opening-drive interception – freshman quarterback Dante Moore drove UCLA from its own 29-yard line all the way down to the Washington State 5-yard line in 37 seconds.
Leading 9-3 at that moment with 28 seconds left in the first half, the Bruins were primed to extend their lead with a first-and-goal looming.
But after a pair of incompletions, Moore’s 3rd-and-5 pass was intercepted by defensive back Kapena Gushiken just a few yards in front of him and taken the other way for an 88-yard pick-six. Washington State suddenly had a 10-9 lead after what proved to be the final play from scrimmage in the first half.
Moore said the opposing defender caught him by surprise, but that the team has to leave the red zone with at least three points.
“He (Gushiken) was like a flying squirrel – he jumped in the air, wings out, I threw the ball and … he picked it,” Moore said. “In the red zone we have to score.”
Despite Moore’s fourth turnover in two games, UCLA won the turnover battle for the second straight game after its defense forced four Washington State turnovers.
Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward entered the game with 16 total touchdowns and zero interceptions, but he followed two first-quarter fumbles by Cougar ball-carriers with his first two picks of the season. After Jones’ first touchdown gave the Bruins an 18-17 lead, Ward’s second interception was thrown directly at junior linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo.
“Our defense fueled us early in that game. I think our guys feed off that,” coach Chip Kelly said. “It’s the mark of a good team. It’s a really connected team and they really care about each other.”
Jones scored his second touchdown – a 22-yard outside-zone carry – four plays later to extend the score to 25-17. In addition to Jones’ contributions on the ground, Steele added 140 rushing yards on 30 carries to help lead the offense.
Washington State had one final drive to try to tie the game, but a stand on fourth-and-one put the game away and completed a day in which UCLA’s defense held the No. 6 offense in the nation to just 216 total yards.
The Cougars entered the game with the nation’s fifth-best scoring offense and the best third-down conversion rate in the country. The Bruins held them to just 17 points and 2-of-13 on third down to earn their first Pac-12 win of the season.
“Everyone knows he’s a good, top-five quarterback,” said redshirt senior defensive lineman Carl Jones Jr. “For the most part we did our job – he got frustrated a lot and we came out with the victory.”
