Regardless of whether UCLA goes on to finish the job and put away Cal, the Bruins may have suffered a loss on the night.
Midway the second quarter of its game with Cal, and on the third of what would be four drives that ended in Ka’imi Fairbairn field goals, Paul Perkins sustained what looked to be a rather significant injury to his left knee. The running back limped off the field and didn’t return, instead being shown by the television cameras riding an exercise bike while discussing his situation with UCLA medical personnel.
His return for the second half was up in the air heading into halftime with a 26-10 lead; coming out of the half, Jim Mora removed all of the mystery as head coach Jim Mora ruled him out for the remainder of the contest.
Perkins, who had 73 yards on 11 carries prior to the injury, came into the game leading the Bruins in rushing with 681 yards rushing and eight rushing touchdowns. Last season, his 1,575 yards were tops in the Pac-12 and 15th nationally.
With Perkins out, and with the lead at 33-10 just a handful of minutes into the second half, the Bruins will likely look to Soso Jamabo (199 yards coming in) and Bolu Olorunfunmi (160) to control the ball and help run some time off the clock.
Or, seeing that Josh Rosen is already over 300 yards one possession into the third quarter, they can just let the true freshman keep doing what he’s been doing and pile on the Bears..