8. Josh Rosen is growing up fast for UCLA
After a couple of rough outings against UNLV and BYU, true freshman quarterback Josh Rosen showed some maturity on the road on Saturday night against Arizona (No. 16). Overcoming his own nerves — which had been quite evident the past couple of starts — and the raucous crowd at Arizona Stadium, Rosen shined in the blowout 56-23 win for UCLA (No. 9).
Finishing with 284 yards on 28 attempts, Rosen threw two touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over once in his first Pac-12 road game, leading the Bruins to a 4-0 record. He even scored on a read-option play, fooling Arizona’s defense, which hadn’t expected the lanky quarterback to consider running.
Combined with a punishing rushing attack, led by Paul Perkins, and a stout defense that continued to play well even without inside linebacker and team leader Miles Jack, the Bruins are certainly in the conversation as the best team in the Pac-12 right now.