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Published Sep 19, 2022
Assessing UCLA going into Pac-12 play
Tracy McDannald
Staff writer

The UCLA football team will head into the week with plenty of questions as Pac-12 Conference play is set to begin Saturday at Colorado.

For some, a 3-0 record is all that ultimately matters for a team that got there in uneasy fashion, surviving a 32-31 scare against South Alabama thanks to the last of placekicker Nicholas Barr-Mira’s four field goals.

The offense’s skill positions may now be fully healthy (or at least without precautionary measures put in place), but the unit looked like an NFL team trying to figure out how to play together again without taking preseason snaps. Wide receiver Kam Brown, who was held out of the first two games for undisclosed reasons, caught just two passes for 19 yards but did pull in a touchdown. Running back Zach Charbonnet, who was dressed but did not play against Alabama State, returned to rush for 78 yards, but backup Keegan Jones got 14 carries to Charbonnet’s 13.

Before the final tune-up, quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson said he wanted to see the offense sustain and finish off its drives better.

“We want to score every time we touch the ball,” he said, “whether that’s a field goal or a touchdown, but primarily a touchdown. We’ve got some things to clean up so that we can finish some drives down in the red zone.”

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