UCLA Loses Key Contributors Paul Perkins and Isaako Savaiinaea in Win Over Cal

The UCLA Bruins bounced back from a rough two-game slide on Thursday night by taking care of business against the Cal Bears at home 40-24. But it wasn’t all good news in Pasadena after this one for the Bruins as leader rusher Paul Perkins and leading tackler Isaako Savaiinaea left the game with injuries and did not return and could be lost for a significant amount of time. It’s the latest major blows to a UCLA team that has seen many of its top players lost to injuries this season.

Perkins came into the game as the team’s top rusher this season, rushing for 681 yards and eight touchdowns prior to this one. Against Cal, Perkins was off to a strong start, rushing for 73 yards on 11 carries before limping off in the second quarter and not returning to the game. He was nearly on pace to match his Pac-12 leading 2014 campaign at this point, when he won the conference rushing title with 1,575 yards and nine touchdowns as a sophomore.

Savaiinaea has been UCLA most consistent presence on defense, leading the Bruins with 44 tackles this season, including two tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, and an interception. His play has taken on greater importance in recent weeks following the season-ending injury to fellow linebacker Myles Jack, who announced that he would be leaving school to rehab his knee and enter the 2016 NFL Draft. The Bruins defense has been hit hard already with injuries this season, losing junior defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes to a torn ACL and senior cornerback Fabian Moreau to a Lisfranc injury in addition to Jack.

In comments after the game, head coach Jim Mora described the injuries to his players in Thursday’s game “not good” which seems to imply that Perkins and Savaiinaea could miss significant time in 2015.

While the scoreboard showed a definitive UCLA victory on Thursday night, it’s clear that the Bruins suffered serious losses in their game with the Bears. Will they be able to continue patching together a Pac-12 contender?

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