Hundley carries UCLA after Bruins blow lead
BOULDER, Colo. — The winning play wasn’t actually designed for Brett Hundley to run with the ball.
Try telling him that in the huddle, though.
The junior quarterback saw something he liked — a defensive lineman crashing the play — faked the handoff and scored untouched on an 8-yard keeper in double overtime to give No. 25 UCLA a 40-37 victory over Colorado on Saturday.
“One thing we’re really good at is being resilient,” Hundley said.
UCLA (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12) squandered a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter as Colorado tied the game on a 35-yard field goal by Will Oliver with 36 seconds remaining.
The teams traded field goals in the first overtime. The Bruins then stopped the Buffaloes (2-6, 0-5) in the second overtime and they settled for a 34-yarder from Oliver.
The play call was for Hundley to hand it off. He saw the defense biting, took the ball back and coasted in for the winning score.
Hundley finished with110 yards rushing.
He also threw for 200 yards and one touchdown pass, giving him 67 in his career and moving him one away from tying Cade McNown for most in program history.
He struggled with his accuracy on a breezy day, his passes sailing and soaring on him. Nothing wrong with his speed, though — or his improvisation skills at the end.
“In those tough times as a QB, you have to be able to lead your offense,” Hundley said.
Paul Perkins had a big day, too, rushing for180 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yard score on the team’s first play from scrimmage. That play tied for the second-longest run in school history. The longest was 93 by Chuck Cheshire against Montana in 1934.
Sefo Liufau finished with two touchdown passes for the Buffaloes.
He has 23 touchdown passes this year and broke Koy Detmer’s single-season school mark.
Once again, Colorado struggled at the start, falling behind 17-0 after the first quarter.
Last weekend at USC, the Buffaloes were behind 28-0 after the opening 15 minutes on their way to a 56-28 drubbing. This time, they rallied. Only, it ended up in another wrenching loss for the Buffaloes, who lost at Cal in double overtime last month.
“I’d like to have some boring games and win them instead of some of the exciting games and keep losing them,” Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre said.
Down 31-14 late in the third after a short score by Myles Jack, Colorado climbed back into the game behind the right arm of Liufau, who connected with Bryce Bobo for touchdowns of 38 and 3 yards.