UCLA football’s running game wakes up at the right time

UCLA’s most soft-spoken running back was his truest self Friday night.

T.J. Harden – after weeks of catching passes and blocking – finally had the breakout game the offense was waiting for when he rushed for 125 yards in a 20-17 win over Iowa. It was the first time all season that a Bruin recorded more than 100 rushing yards in a game.

“I knew I had to have a game like this,” Harden told reporters after the game.

The rushing attack helped guide the Bruins to their third consecutive victory and first home win of the season, which was also the highest-attended home game of the year. The crowd of 53.467 included Zach Charbonnet, a Seattle Seahawks running back and one of head coach DeShaun Foster’s most prized Bruin pupils.

UCLA tallied 211 yards on the ground, which Harden said is partially attributed to the growing comfort that the Bruins feel with offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s playbook.

“We did a great job of picking up blocks and we opened up our playbook,” Harden said. “We did more plays to the outside and more counters. It was also the result of weeks of experience and learning. We put it together this week to stay consistent in the run game.”

The Bruins kept Iowa off balance with those plays, including a two-back set that made the most of Harden’s versatility and Keegan Jones’ speed. They also deployed three different running backs and used Harden in a reserve role toward the beginning of the game.

Jones finished the night with seven carries for 38 yards and Jalen Berger was given the ball six times for 30 yards – developing what Foster dubbed a “three-headed monster” in the postgame press conference.

Each caught at least two passes as well, which was the style of play that the Hawkeyes had watched on film as opposed to the run game that was actually used.

“Heavy run versus pass,” Iowa linebacker Nick Jackson said of what the Hawkeyes saw Friday. “There were more pass personnel coming into the game and they saw some run looks, and they did very well.”

UCLA’s passing game had a tried-and-true option in Harden, who was the team’s second-leading receiver going into Friday night but was missing tight end Moliki Matavao and receivers J.Michael Sturdivant and Rico Flores Jr.

The situation was ripe for the Bruins’ run game to take over and a little competition against Iowa’s rushing game helped. Hawkeyes running back Kaleb Johnson was second in the nation in multiple statistical categories, but the defense limited him to 49 yards and forced multiple negative-yardage plays.

“It wasn’t just all of a sudden we just came out there and it came together,” Foster said. “It’s been getting better each week. We had a little bit of juice and they were fired up for the challenge. We went up against the No. 2 rushing offense in the country. I think they took pride in wanting to outrush them, and we did that.”

UCLA needs to win two of its final three games against Washington, USC and Fresno State in order to become bowl eligible.

“I’m excited that they’re taking coaching,” Foster said. “When you talk to our players, they’re echoing the same thing that I’m saying or that our other coaches are saying. They’re truly locked into the process.

“They understand that we had to build the foundation first before we could put the house up.”