Shortly after Colorado’s attempted Hail Mary sailed out of the back of the end zone and UCLA’s victory was official, the Rose Bowl started to empty. As the crowd marched toward the parking lots, one fan in power blue was heard saying unenthusiastically to another, “A win’s a win.”
The response was delivered with similar level of non-excitement: “Yeah …”
That’s the kind of night it was Saturday.
The Bruins won 27-23 and in doing so, prevented their season from completely unraveling — for now.
Victories like this are sources of relief, not euphoria, and almost everyone treated it as such, from coach Jim Mora to his players to the fans.