SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 7, 2014
No. 11 UCLA 42, Memphis 35: Brett Hundley passed for 396 yards and three touchdowns as the Bruins held off a stiff challenge from the visiting Tigers.
Thomas Duarte caught four passes for 110 yards and two touchdowns, including the go-ahead score early in the fourth quarter. Paul Perkins rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns to pace the ground attack for UCLA (2-0).
Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch completed 27-of-41 passes for 304 yards and a touchdown. Doroland Dorceus rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown and the 6-7, 230-pound Lynch added another rushing score for the Tigers (1-1).
Duarte caught his second touchdown pass with 10:52 remaining, a 33-yard reception on a seam route that gave the Bruins a 42-35 lead. The Tigers trailed by 14 points entering the final quarter, but Fritz Etienne’s 17-yard interception return with 13:44 left tied the score at 35.
Memphis took its only lead 14-13 on a 7-yard run by Sam Craft with 10:39 left in the first half, but the Bruins needed less than a minute to retake the lead as Duarte snared a 14-yard touchdown pass from Hundley. Perkins scored on his second touchdown run with 4:39 remaining in the second quarter and Hundley’s two-point pass to Tyler Scott extended the lead to 28-14.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The fourth-quarter interception charged to Hundley was his first in 147 attempts. … UCLA did not force a turnover for the first time in its last 13 games. … Memphis played without DE Martin Ifedi, one of the nation’s sack leaders last season who suffered a left ankle injury in the season opener last weekend against Austin Peay.