UCLA loses in blowout to Washington in possible

Somebody ought to examine with SoFi Stadium to see if it rescinded its offer.

In what might have been UCLA’s last recreation at the Rose Bowl after 43 years of calling the place home, the Bruins unfurled the type of exhibiting that no one would ever need to relive or put in a scrapbook, a lot less market as half of a future plan.

If this was goodbye, it was a unhappy sendoff.

There have been misplaced fumbles, a laughably unhealthy pretend discipline objective that resulted in a landing for the other staff and a dropped move that in all probability value UCLA its own rating. And that was just in the first half.

Adding injury to insult, UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava took a crunching hit that sidelined him late in the third quarter, ending his gritty return from a concussion that had compelled him to miss his staff’s last recreation.

There’s mercifully only one recreation left for the Bruins this season after a 48-14 loss to Washington on Saturday evening led to a fast-emptying stadium, no fond farewells in store for the home followers amid an announced crowd of 38,201 that was too depleted by recreation’s end to boo.

The website of UCLA’s next home recreation stays as big of an unknown as its next head coach. School officers have said they’re still considering plans for where the staff will play in the future, though that choice could possibly be up to a court to determine given the Bruins have almost 20 years left on a Rose Bowl lease that doesn’t expire until the summer time of 2044.

It’s believed that if faculty officers have their method, they’ll transfer to SoFi Stadium in time for their 2026 season opener. UCLA defensive back Cole Martin, a native of Pasadena, didn’t appear glad about the chance of abandoning the Rose Bowl as his home stadium.

“The Rose Bowl means a lot to me,” said Martin, whose interception in the second quarter was one of only a handful of big performs for the Bruins. “It makes me emotional thinking about it. It’s everything to me, for sure.”

Wherever the Bruins play next season, they’ve a lot of enhancements to make. They seemed torpid in falling behind 34-0 on Saturday while making one mistake after another on the best way to a fourth consecutive defeat.

“We just couldn’t stop the bleeding, you know?” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said.

By the time he entered the sport, there was little backup quarterback Luke Duncan might do besides make the ultimate rating barely more palatable. He succeeded on that entrance, firing a 37-yard landing move to Mikey Matthews late in the third quarter that helped UCLA (3-8 total, 3-5 Big Ten) keep away from a shutout.

There was another spotlight for the Bruins early in the fourth quarter when Kanye Clark compelled a fumble on Washington’s punt return, permitting Jamir Benjamin to choose up the ball and run 13 yards for a landing.

But make no mistake: This was full domination by the Huskies (8-3, 5-3), who rolled up 426 yards of offense while holding the Bruins to 207 yards, including just 57 yards dashing.

Washington alumnus and comic Joel McHale carried out a short recorded bit that was shown on the scoreboard before the sport, but the real slapstick was about to come.

The Bruins coughed up two fumbles in the first half and would have misplaced a third had the Huskies not been called for defensive holding on the play, nullifying the turnover.

“Turnovers are always going to kill you,” Skipper said, “so we’ve got to find a way to fix that as we get into next week.”

UCLA quarterback Luke Duncan throws during the second half against Washington on Saturday.

(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)

UCLA extensive receiver Titus Mokiao-Atimalala dropped what might have been a landing move at the Huskies’ 38-yard line with nothing but open discipline in entrance of him.

But there was no blunder fairly like what occurred when the Bruins lined up for a 46-yard discipline objective late in the second quarter. Holder Cash Peterman took the snap and flipped the ball over his shoulder as kicker Mateen Bhaghani circled behind him, the ball hitting the turf instead of Bhaghani’s palms.

Washington’s Alex McLaughlin picked up the ball and ran 59 yards for a landing that put the Huskies forward, 20-0.

Skipper said the Huskies confirmed one look in their field-goal protection before shifting out of it prior to the snap, inflicting chaos for the Bruins.

“The communication on our end got all jacked up when they stemmed out of it,” Skipper said, “so I’ll take the heat for it — it was probably too complicated, it was too much communication and we miscommunicated and that’s what happened.”

Things never obtained appreciably better, the Bruins left adrift without a haven in sight.