Rosen hurt, but Bruins win it on Molson’s kick at :04
As UCLA prepared to enter a new era, it was forced to contemplate the unhappiest of endings.
Quarterback Josh Rosen was forced out of what might have been his final home game as a Bruin on Friday night after getting thrown to the turf for a sack late in the second quarter.
Rosen remained in the game against California for three more plays but appeared to acknowledge that he would not return after a discussion with team staffers. He clutched his helmet with both hands and slammed it to the ground while seated on the bench in the moments before halftime.
Rosen’s departure left backup quarterback Devon Modster to try and engineer a victory that would make the Bruins eligible for a bowl game while going undefeated this season at the Rose Bowl. And J.J. Molson did just that with a 37-yard field goal with four seconds to play, giving the Bruins a 30-27 victory.
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Rosen’s early exit left him 24 yards short of surpassing Brett Hundley for the school’s single-season passing record. Rosen completed 13 of 18 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 3,717 yards for the season.
Not all of the drama was confined to the field.
Speculation intensified that the Bruins were close to hiring former Oregon coach Chip Kelly as the replacement for the recently fired Jim Mora after Yahoo Sports reported that Florida was no longer considering Kelly for its coaching vacancy. Florida officials had reportedly met with Kelly on Sunday, two days before Kelly sat down with a contingent of UCLA officials to discuss their opening.
Mora was fired Sunday, five days before the Bruins’ final home game of the season.
UCLA senior safety Jaleel Wadood questioned the timing of Mora’s dismissal on social media before the game Friday, tweeting, “What type of people don’t even let my man coach Mora not even get to send his seniors off on senior night. All he did for the program that’s the least ya’ll could’ve did smh.”
UCLA interim coach Jedd Fisch and the Bruins position coaches hugged the team’s seniors as they were recognized and ran onto the field before the game. Mora was featured in his usual two-page spread inside UCLA’s official gameday magazine, which presumably went to press before his firing.
Bruins players said this week they wanted to beat Cal as a tribute to Mora because it would leave his legacy as having guided the team to bowl games in five of his six seasons. Representatives from the Independence Bowl distributed an information sheet to media in the press box touting the Dec. 27 game that will be played in Shreveport, La.
UCLA’s bowl hopes appeared to take a big hit when Cal linebacker Alex Funches yanked Rosen to the ground for the Bears’ third sack of the game. Rosen appeared to land on his throwing shoulder and was slow to get up, his jersey featuring a huge rip below the right shoulder.
Rosen missed most of two games earlier this season after suffering a concussion in the first half against Washington on Oct. 28. Rosen later said he had tried to play through his symptoms before being removed from the game against the Huskies.
Rosen is a junior but would probably be one of the top picks in the NFL draft should he opt to turn pro.
Modster showed some nice touch on back-to-back passes midway through the third quarter, completing one to Jordan Lasley for 37 yards and another to Eldridge Massington for a gain of 16. Tailback Brandon Stephens ran for a one-yard touchdown that gave the Bruins a 24-17 lead.
Rosen was roughed up well before his departure.
He was sacked twice in the first quarter and fumbled the ball while cocking his arm back to pass in the end zone. Rosen picked up the ball and lunged past the goal line to avoid a safety.
The passes Rosen threw were mostly on target. He completed seven of eight in the first quarter, including a 14-yard touchdown to a falling Theo Howard in the front corner of the end zone.
Rosen later lofted a jump ball to a spinning, leaping Lasley, who made the catch in front of the goal line and went into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown that gave the Bruins a 17-6 lead.
Lasley had 227 yards on 12 receptions.
ben.bolch@latimes.com Twitter: @latbbolch