UCLA Turns Four Maryland Interceptions into 54-3
Four interceptions. That was the game, or at least the part of it that explains how a 20-3 halftime lead became a 54-3 final. Maryland threw four picks and lost a fumble, ran 29 times for 40 yards, and UCLA walked out of College Park with its fourth win in four tries.
The first quarter was scoreless, which is the only kind thing to say about the home team's offense. Wayne Knight broke the seal with a 45-yard run at 13:31 of the second, Anthony Woods scored from a yard out, and Jaivian Thomas added a three-yard run (the two-point try failed, hence 20 and not 21). Sean O'Haire's 37-yard field goal with 1:23 left in the half was all Maryland got.
Then came the third quarter, when two of those interceptions went the other way for touchdowns. Ta'Shawn James returned one 39 yards, and Scooter Jackson returned another 65, and the score went from 20-3 to 34-3 in about three minutes of game clock. Take away those 14 points and UCLA still wins 40-3, which tells you how the rest of the afternoon went. Mateen Bhaghani kicked field goals of 40 and 37 yards, Nico Iamaleava found Aidan Mizell on an 83-yard touchdown, and Troy Leigber closed it with a 63-yard run with 4:09 left.
The numbers are lopsided in every column. UCLA outgained Maryland 475 yards to 182 and ran for 266 on 39 carries (6.8 a pop), though it did lose two fumbles of its own. Iamaleava threw for 209 yards on 15 of 24 and did not throw an interception.
UCLA is 4-0. Maryland is 2-2. For fantasy managers, the headline is Knight again: he leads the box score with 22.5 points on a day UCLA never needed to lean on him, which is a nice way to have a down week.