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No. 12 UCLA overcomes adversity to hold off Texas

Sep 14, 2014 - 6:14 AM Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Jerry Neuheisel threw for two touchdowns in place of injured quarterback Brett Hundley as No. 12 UCLA held on to defeat Texas, 20-17, at AT&T Stadium.

Neuheisel threw for 178 yards on 23-of-30 passing after Hundley came down hard on an 11-yard scramble in the first quarter and left with an injury to his non-throwing elbow. Hundley will be further evaluated at UCLA.

"My first thought was excitement for Jerry Neuheisel," UCLA head coach Jim Mora said. "I mean, this kid is everything that's right about college football and about UCLA. I mean, he bleeds Bruin blue. I just thought, wow, you couldn't write a better script than this right here."

Paul Perkins had a game-high 126 yards on 24 carries and finished with 195 all-purpose yards for the Bruins, who started off 3-0 for the third straight season. Jordan Payton and Nate Iese each caught touchdown passes from Neuheisel.

Tyrone Swoopes completed 24 of his 34 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns for Texas (1-2). John Harris and M.J. McFarland each hauled in a TD pass in defeat.

"This was a missed opportunity just because of how we played and how hard we played for this game. That hurts," said Harris.

Down by seven, UCLA quickly evened things up to start the second half. Perkins raced down to Texas' 17 for a 58-yard gain before Neuheisel connected with Iese for a 3-yard touchdown and a 10-10 game.

After a series of punts, the Bruins put together a lengthy drive to begin the fourth. Perkins ran four straight times for a pair of first downs before Payton's 14-yard catch pushed his team into Texas territory. The Bruins took the ball all the way down inside the Longhorns' 10 before Myles Jack was stuffed at the 7-yard line on third down. Ka'imi Fairbairn hit a 25-yard field goal to give UCLA the lead.

Texas marched right down the field on the ensuing drive. Jonathan Gray exploded for a 31-yard dash to UCLA's 10 and Harris caught an 8-yard pass for a 17-13 Texas lead with five minutes to play.

Jordon James fumbled the ball at the Texas 25, but the Longhorns couldn't add to their lead after going three-and-out. Ishmael Adams returned the punt 58 yards before Neuheisel found Payton for a 33-yard score and a 20-17 lead.

UCLA ran out the clock after its defense stood tall and forced a turnover on downs.

James broke through for a 20-yard rush to place UCLA at Texas' 27, but Neuheisel was sacked for a loss of nine yards, forcing the Bruins to settle with a 47-yard field goal from Fairbairn with less than a minute to play in the opening stanza.

On the next drive, Malcolm Brown ran two straight times for a combined 27 yards to place the Longhorns at their opponents' 28. The drive was cut short after Swoopes was sacked on third down. Nick Rose split the uprights from 33 yards out for a tie game early in the second.

Jacorey Warrick hauled in a 15-yard pass, but a short gain and two incompletions left the Longhorns staring at 4th-and-8 on UCLA's 38. Texas decided to go for it and was successful after Swoopes aired out a pass to Harris along the right sideline for a 33-yard catch, taking the Longhorns down to UCLA's 5.

An offensive holding pushed the Longhorns back 10 yards, but Swoopes held onto the ball two plays later and rushed down to the Bruins' 2. Swoopes then found McFarland in the back of the end zone for a score, making it a 10-3 game with 2:01 left heading into halftime.

Game Notes

UCLA now leads the all-time series, 4-3 ... Texas won the last meeting, 49-20, on Sept. 17, 2011 .... UCLA received the ball to start both halves after Texas defensive tackle Tank Johnson told the official that his team would like to kick after the Bruins elected to defer ... The Bruins won their fifth straight road game.