he game was over. The coach was cooked. The team was in tatters. The season was finished almost before it started.
With two minutes left in the third quarter of the season opener at a boo-wracked Rose Bowl on Sunday night, UCLA trailed Texas A&M by 34 points.
Thirty-four points.
It was a humiliation, everything everyone feared about the Bruins, their most dreaded flaws, their most ominous mistakes, their worst nightmare.
Then, with the flick and flick and flick and flick of a Josh Rosen wrist, it became their wildest dream.
UCLA won. The Bruins really won. Honestly, they won. No, seriously, they won.
If you drove out of the Arroyo Seco early because you were baking in heat and frustration, you’re really boiling now, because — have we written this already? — UCLA won, 45-44, in a result that still bears repeating.
Thirty-four points down, and they won.
It was the greatest comeback in UCLA history and the second-biggest comeback in FBS history. They scored touchdowns on their final five drives of the game, ended it with Rosen finding Jordan Lasley in the corner of the end zone for a 10-yard scoring pass with 43 seconds left, then stormed the Rose Bowl field in disbelief.
A night previously dominated by dazed stares ended with Bruins dancing everywhere — in the stands, under the goal posts, and then finally through the tunnel ringed by fans who seemingly had been screaming for 30 minutes straight.
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