PASADENA, Calif. -- Almost, but not quite was the theme in No. 11 UCLA's 37-10 route of California, Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
While it might not be often that a theme like that is applicable to a game that featured such a wide scoring margin and a record-breaking passing performance, missed chances and play breakdowns did occur. They may not haunt the Bruins the way they might if the game had ended in a different manor, but the expectations are much higher than in years past.
However, the Bruins are 5-0 for the first time since 2005 (2-0 Pac-12). It's a point that can't be lost on what was somewhat of a lackluster game and shows why the bar has been raised.
"When you beat another Pac-12 team, you take that and you run with it," said head coach Jim Mora. "We are excited about that win."
Quarterback Brett Hundley threw for a career-high 410 yards and three touchdowns, both numbers that were expected to be higher against the third-worst defense in the FBS. Slants and screens that came off of hot routes were what netted most of the yards, which was the third most in Bruin history.
"Brett threw the ball very well and that was the third-highest passing game in UCLA history but he missed some throws," Mora said. "I'm going to focus on that."
Hundley did miss throws, 10 of them to be exact (31-for-41) with several coming in the red zone.
Offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone gave the most realistic account of Hundley's play.
"It was alright," Mazzone said. "Obviously, with that statement you see our expectations of him. He missed a couple throws down there at the goal line and it changed the whole game around. About three of them down there, where we had to settle for field goals."
UCLA was just 7-for-15 on third-down conversions, which played right into the red zone struggles. The struggles were never more two key drives in the third quarter.
Randall Goforth picked off Cal's Jared Goff and returned it 31 yards to the Cal 16-yard line, but after getting all the way to the four, Hundley threw three straight incompletions and the Bruins settled for a field goal.
A few drives later, a Devin Fuller 35-yard catch and run resulted in only three points as well.
"We need to be able to score touchdowns in the red zone," Mora said. "We need to be able to punch it in and get touchdowns rather than field goals."
"It looks so great on stats but you could do so much better than that," Hundley said.
"That's what's really been driving this offense so much is knowing that we can be that good …We can be that much better, we can be the best offense in the country."
But while 488 yards is great, only 78 came on the ground and the Bruins continued to lament their offensive struggles that didn't show up on the box score.
Cal's Bear Raid offense that was the topic of much of the discussion leading up to the game came out flat in the opening quarter, netting just 19 yards in the first quarter.
It did pick up significantly in the second and the Golden Bears (1-5, 0-3) managed a touchdown and a 51-yard field goal but it still wasn't much of a match for a UCLA defense that brought strong pressure from the front.
