Fresno State falls at the Rose Bowl 20-13, first loss to UCLA since 2000

PASADENA, Calif. -- Ethan Garbers passed for 289 yards in his final game for UCLA, T.J. Harden scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter and the Bruins rallied for a 20-13 victory over Fresno State in their season finale.

The video above is from an earlier story and will be updated.

Fresno State had a 10-6 lead at halftime, but went three-and-out on its first drive of the second half. UCLA took over on its own 40 after a punt and went 56 yards in four plays, capped by Harden's 5-yard run up the middle for his second touchdown of the season.

The big play of the series came when tight end Moliki Matavao had a 35-yard reception to the Bulldogs' 5. Matavao finished with career highs in receptions (eight) and yards (120).

Garbers, who completed 26 of 40 passes, put it out of reach with 1:38 remaining with a 2-yard touchdown pass to J. Michael Sturdivant, completing a 15-play, 78-yard drive that took 6:14 off the clock.

Fresno State's Mikey Keene - who came into the game leading the Mountain West in passing yards (2,668) - completed 30 of 43 for 219 yards.

UCLA (5-7) opened the scoring on a pair of field goals by Mateen Bhaghani before Raylen Sharpe caught a 7-yard pass from Keene midway through the second quarter to put the Bulldogs up 7-6.

Dylan Lynch had a pair of field goals for Fresno State (6-6), including a 42-yarder with 31 seconds left to get the Bulldogs within 20-13.

Lynch tried an onside kick, but it went out of bounds, to end any hopes of a Bulldogs' comeback.

The takeaway

Fresno State: The Bulldogs had a four-game winning streak in the series - including three straight at the Rose Bowl - but lost to the Bruins for the first time since 2000.

UCLA: After a 1-5 start to the season, the Bruins won four of their final six games and showed some progress in DeShaun Foster's first season as head coach.

Up next

Fresno State will find out its bowl destination on Dec. 8.