Chip Kelly doesn't think Oregon's onside kick changed momentum in UCLA's 45-30 loss
Chip Kelly does not think Oregon’s successful onside kick conversion in the first half of Saturday’s 45-30 loss changed the momentum in the game.
The Ducks scored a touchdown with 10:49 to play in the second quarter, taking a 17-10 lead. They followed that score up immediately with an onside kick that caught UCLA off guard and gave the ball back to Oregon quarterback Bo Nix. Four minutes later, Oregon scored another touchdown to take a 24-10 lead.
“I don’t think it changed the momentum,” Kelly said after the game. “We’ve still got to get stops and we didn’t do that. I don’t think the onside kick changed us from getting stops to not getting stops.”
Chip Kelly on the onside kick: "I don’t think it changed the momentum—we’ve still got to get stops and we didn’t do that. I don’t think the onside kick changed us from getting stops to not getting stops."
— Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) October 22, 2022
Kelly has a point in that UCLA couldn’t stop Oregon at all throughout the game. The Ducks scored points on each of their first seven possessions. They didn’t punt until there were six minutes remaining in the game, and aside from the clock-killing final possession, that was the only time Oregon failed to move the ball on the Bruin defense.
UCLA entered the game with the Pac-12’s best run defense — allowing 3.1 yards a run through its first six games. It also had a guy in Laiatu Latu on the edge who was tied for the second-most sacks in the country (6.5) and another in Grayson Murphy who led the Pac-12 in overall quarterback pressures.
The Bruins didn’t sack Nix a single time, gave up 6 yards a run, and allowed an average of 8 yards gained on each first down.
But the Ducks’ onside kick sure felt like it changed the game.
Instead of trading points, the game became more about UCLA trying to catch the Ducks, something it was never able to do.