TEMPE, Ariz. _ It was double jeopardy for Josh Rosen.
The UCLA quarterback returned from an injury that knocked him out of the game against Arizona State on Saturday night at Sun Devil Stadium only to get hurt again in the final minutes.
Rosen was pulled down from behind and sacked by linebacker Koron Crump, appearing to hurt his throwing shoulder. On came backup quarterback Mike Fafaul, whose third-down pass fell incomplete.
Fafaul had one more chance for a miracle comeback when the Bruins later got the ball back but was sacked twice before his final pass was intercepted, a fittingly awful ending to UCLA's 23-20 defeat.
Rosen had returned to rally the Bruins from one 10-point deficit but not a second.
It had appeared the game was in his hands after UCLA defensive back Adarius Pickett intercepted a pass from Sun Devils third-string quarterback Dillon Sterling-Cole in the corner of the end zone, giving the Bruins (3-3 overall, 1-2 in Pac-12 Conference play) the ball at their own 20-yard line with 5:35 left and down by three points. But then Rosen was hurt and forced to leave the game.
Rosen completed 24 of 43 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. But the Bruins finished the game with minus-one yard rushing and the defense couldn't get the stops it needed.
Rosen had helped force a 13-13 tie before UCLA found itself down by 10 again after Arizona State's N'Keal Harry pulled in a 14-yard pass in the back of the end zone on the final play of the third quarter.
Rosen hurriedly brought the Bruins back, needing only 78 seconds to engineer a 75-yard drive that ended with tight end Nate Iese lunging across the goal line on an 18-yard reception that shaved Arizona State's lead to 23-20.
On an earlier drive, Rosen completed a short pass on third down to tailback Soso Jamabo, who skirted the sideline before cutting back inside on the way to a 66-yard gain that gave the Bruins first and goal at the Arizona State two-yard line.
But UCLA receiver Kenneth Walker III dropped a third-down pass in the end zone and the Bruins turned to kicker J.J. Molson, whose 19-yard field goal pulled them to within a touchdown. Rosen approached Walker as Walker sat on the bench and said something to him in agitated fashion after Walker's second drop of the game.
UCLA did get even, briefly, after receiver Jordan Lasley caught a short pass, slipped two tackles and cut across the field past another defensive back who fell down on the way to a 52-yard touchdown.
Then Arizona State (4-2, 2-1) scored the next 10 points, assisted in part by a pass Rosen forced into coverage while under heavy pressure. The ball was tipped and intercepted by Marcus Ball, leading to Zane Gonzalez's 46-yard field goal that gave the Sun Devils a 23-13 lead.
Gonzalez's third field goal of the game also gave him 89 for his career, a new Football Bowl Subdivision record.
UCLA did not exclusively go to the run upon Fafaul's entrance or even heavily tilt that way. They may have regretted it when Fafaul underthrew Eldridge Massington early in the third quarter and the pass was intercepted by Arizona State defensive back Gump Hayes.
Hayes returned the interception 37 yards and would have scored a touchdown had Fafaul not pushed him out of bounds at the four-yard line.
The Bruins defense stood firm on the next three plays, forcing Arizona State's Zane Gonzalez to kick a 23-yard field goal that gave the Sun Devils a 6-3 lead. They extended their advantage on tailback Demario Richard's five-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter.
UCLA entered the game wanting to sync good efforts from its offense, defense and special teams. It looked like it the Bruins were might go one for three after Rosen's departure stymied an already inefficient offense.
UCLA's special teams were a mess. There were two missed field goals, one punt that was fumbled and another that was bobbled, and a running into the kicker penalty.
That left a Bruins defense that was stout again in the early going. Linebacker Kenny Young recovered a fumble on a botched handoff and cornerback Fabian Moreau intercepted a pass, but the offense and the kicking game couldn't do anything with those turnovers.
