Dorian Thompson-Robinson announces a return to UCLA for 2022 season
Dorian Thompson-Robinson had one extra year of eligibility because of COVID, should he want it.
As it turns out, he does. “See you in 2022,” the Bruins’ starting quarterback tweeted on Monday. After nearly landing transfer quarterback Dillon Gabriel only to watch him back out of his commitment at the last moment and flip to Oklahoma, all eyes in Westwood turned to the man known simply as DTR. His play picked up in a big way in 2021, and now he and the Bruins will look to keep it rolling in 2022.
See you in 2022! pic.twitter.com/i7rLl9zY8S
— 🦋 (@DoriansTweets) January 10, 2022
It’ll be the fifth year of Thompson-Robinson’s career. Presumably he’ll look to raise his draft stock. Maligned earlier in his career for up-and-down play, Thompson-Robinson had a breakthrough this season, especially late. The quarterback sparked a three-game winning streak to close the regular-season, during which the Bruin offense ripped off 49.3 points a game. That stretch also included a 62-33 beatdown of rival USC in which Thompson-Robinson threw four touchdowns and ran for another two.
Over his final three games, Thompson-Robinson completed 70% of his passes for 770 yards and seven touchdowns while also running for 246 yards and three touchdowns. He and the Bruins were going to look for win No. 9 for the first time since 2014 when they played NC State in the Holiday Bowl, but it was canceled hours before the game was set to kick off.
“I believe 2021 ended short,” Thompson-Robinson tweeted Monday, “so WE can go farther in 2022!”
Thompson-Robinson has moved into the top five on UCLA’s all-time leaderboard in career passing yards (7,541), career total offense (8,722 yards), career completions (594), career touchdown passes (64) and career quarterback rushing yards (1,181). His return gives him a good shot at passing Cade McNown (10,708 yards in four seasons) to become the program’s all-time leading passer.
UCLA went 8-4 this year. The offense will have a retooled offensive line and it’ll need to replace its top two pass-catchers from this season, but with the most important position settled, the Bruins can go into the offseason with some continuity on offense and a tried-and-true vet at the controls.