No. 24 UCLA scored touchdowns on all five of its first-quarter possessions to cruise to a 59-7 rout of North Carolina Central on Saturday in Pasadena, Calif.
Dante Moore threw a 67-yard scoring strike to Kam Brown on the first play from scrimmage, then a Laiatu Latu interception set up Carson Steele for a goal-line touchdown carry.
UCLA (3-0) thus jumped ahead 14-0 in two offensive plays, doing so just 74 seconds into the game.
The Bruins produced another one-play touchdown drive when Collin Schlee broke a 57-yard quarterback keeper to the end zone, a score bookended by drives that culminated in a 30-yard Moore touchdown pass to J. Michael Sturdivant and a second Schlee touchdown on a 1-yard carry.
UCLA set a program record for points in a first quarter with 35. The immediate flurry also allowed the Bruins to go deep into their depth chart.
Five quarterbacks took snaps, with Moore finishing 8-for-12 for 182 yards with the two touchdowns, Schlee rushing for 60 yards on three carries and Ethan Garbers, Chase Griffin and Justyn Martin leading drives.
Five Bruins rushed at least three times. Anthony Adkins — who went for a game-high 96 yards on 10 carries and scored a touchdown on a goal-line carry in the third quarter — was the fourth UCLA ball carrier to reach pay dirt.
Colson Yankoff ran for 61 yards on six opportunities and scored a 25-yard touchdown in the third quarter. T.J. Harden went for 62 of his 66 yards on a second-quarter scoring carry.
The most drama of the day came on a late drive by N.C. Central with UCLA trying to preserve its first shutout since a 41-0 defeat of Oregon State in 2015.
The Eagles (2-1) forced a turnover on downs, then went 56 yards in 14 plays, scratching out their first points on a Chris Mosley touchdown carry from 1 yard out. Walker Harris completed five passes on the drive, part of a 12-for-18 day for 114 yards.
Latrell Collier led the Eagles with 48 yards rushing on 14 carries, and Jayden Flaker made a third-quarter interception in the loss.
–Field Level Media