UCLA football: Austin Roberts gets Bruins off to fast start in his first start

Reporting from Tucson —  It took all of four plays for UCLA to learn whether it had a tight end who could make an impact in Caleb Wilson’s absence.

Austin Roberts, making his first start of the season, snagged a 28-yard pass from quarterback Josh Rosen on the Bruins’ opening drive against Arizona on Saturday night at Arizona Stadium.

It didn’t result in any points after UCLA kicker J.J. Molson eventually missed a 45-yard field-goal attempt, but it served notice that Roberts was ready to do his part to help make up for the loss of the team’s second-leading receiver.

Wilson sustained a season-ending forefoot injury against Colorado on Sept. 30 and did not accompany the Bruins to the desert after undergoing surgery.

But he checked in on social media before the game, tweeting, “It’s going to hurt my soul watching this game on television and not playing out there with my brothers.”

Extra incentive?

UCLA coach Jim Mora entered Saturday with a 5-0 record against Arizona, which made Wildcats coach Rich Rodriguez 0-5 against the Bruins considering they’re both in their sixth years at their respective schools.

Rodriguez strayed a bit from the usual coachspeak earlier this week when asked whether there was added motivation to finally beat the Bruins.

“The typical coach response would be, ‘Yeah, every year is a new year,’ and that’s true — half our roster are new guys,” Rodriguez said Tuesday. “That being said, the guys that have been here, we haven’t beaten them.

“They’re a division rival and there’s been a lot of reasons why we haven’t beaten them—they’ve outplayed us, they’ve been better than us, but we also have not played well at times either. Frankly, I think the guys who have been around the program want to have another shot and the seniors, it’s their last shot to do it.”

Mora said worrying about the Wildcats playing with an edge because of their past failures against UCLA constituted an exercise in futility.

“I think what’s important is you don’t concern yourself with the psyche of your opponent because that’s wasted energy,” Mora said earlier this week. “There’s nothing we can do to control how they’re approaching this game. All we can do is control how we’re approaching this game. I can tell you we’re approaching it as, it’s just a tremendous challenge, a tremendous opportunity, we know we have to play very well.”

They’re back

There was a welcome sight for the Bruins about 90 minutes before kickoff when right tackle Sunny Odogwu warmed up on the field. The graduate transfer from Miami had not played this season because of a variety of injuries.

Linebacker DeChaun Holiday made his season debut after having been sidelined since spring practice by a shoulder injury. He wore jersey No. 31 on kickoff coverage because his usual No. 17 was taken by Molson.

Also back for the Bruins were linebacker Lokeni Toailoa, who had missed the Colorado game with an undisclosed injury, and guard Najee Toran, who left the game against the Buffaloes with a leg injury. Toran was called for a personal foul facemask penalty in the first quarter.

Still out

UCLA freshman defensive end Jaelan Phillips missed a third consecutive game with a right ankle injury that he sustained in the third quarter against Memphis on Sept. 16.

Linebacker Breland Brandt was unavailable for a fourth consecutive game as he continues to recover from a concussion he sustained against Hawaii on Sept. 9.

The Bruins also played without linebacker Brandon Burton, with the reason for his absence not immediately known.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

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