UCLA trailed Texas A&M by 34 points late in the third quarter Sunday night at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, giving Bruins fans the perfect excuse to leave early and beat the traffic.
But those who stayed were treated to an incredible rally.
Led by quarterback Josh Rosen, UCLA scored five unanswered touchdowns to shock A&M, 45-44, for the second-largest comeback in major college football history, CBS Sports reported.
Rosen threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter ― the last coming on a bit of trickery (see the clip above). He pretended he was about to spike the ball to freeze the defense, and then lofted a 10-yard touchdown to Jordan Lasley near the back of the end zone to tie the game at 44-44 with 43 seconds left. J.J. Molson’s extra point put UCLA ahead for good, 45-44.
“It was a lot of fun, huh? Glad you stuck around?” UCLA coach Jim Mora said, per Associated Press.
Highlights of the comeback begin around the 3:15 mark:
Rosen said: “We were an inch away from losing that game probably 10 times ... the things that had to go right to win this game were incredible.”
According to SB Nation, Michigan State overcame a 35-point deficit against Northwestern in 2006. The Bruins’ rally fell just one point short of that total, but it was historic nonetheless.
“It got real bleak at a certain point — real, real bleak,” Rosen told the Los Angeles Times.