Brett Hundley was so fired up to score a touchdown he slapped his arm in excitement. Normally that would be a cause for concern by the UCLA faithful with the quarterback coming off an injury but it turned into the defining symbol of a resounding 62-27 win over Arizona State that finally showed what UCLA is capable of when firing on all cylinders.
Hundley, a redshirt junior, made the start for UCLA after injuring his non-throwing elbow against Texas a week and a half ago. The potential first-round draft pick finished the night 18-of-23 for 355 yards and five total touchdowns. Hundley flashed a strong arm, looked calm inside the pocket and didn't hesitate to take off running either, even absorbing a direct hit to his elbow brace and showing little reaction to it afterward.
The game likely brought a sigh of relief to Jim Mora and the UCLA coaching staff. The team had struggled to put together a complete game on both sides of the ball in their three non-conference games to start the season but exploded in Tempe on Thursday night.
When Todd Graham and Arizona State look back at their performance, they'll likely single out a 5:42 stretch sandwiching halftime.
The Sun Devils were clinging to a 17-13 lead behind a backup quarterback and generally playing well on both sides of the ball. Then came those five minutes and 42 seconds of game time.
The Bruins went 90 yards to score a touchdown, returned a pick-six just before halftime and needed just 19 seconds at the start of the third quarter to turn a 3-point deficit into a 17-point lead they would hold the rest of the night.
While Hundley put up some big numbers for the Bruins, the star of the night was junior defensive back Ishmael Adams. He had the pick-six to help the team seize momentum before halftime and took a kick return 100 yards to the house to put an exclamation point on the victory.
Playing in place of starter Taylor Kelly, Sun Devils backup quarterback Mike Bercovici still had a solid night as the triggerman for an offense that put up over 600 yards of offense. The junior who waited his turn at Arizona State finished the night 42-of-68 for 488 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions but impressed with his command of the offense and strong arm.
It took until Week 5 of the college football season but No. 11 UCLA finally lived up to their advanced billing as a potential playoff contender. With a healthy Hundley behind center, the Bruins put the rest of the Pac-12 on notice Thursday night.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
