UCLA were hardly world beaters in their conference opener, but they did win a game they wouldn't have won the last few seasons.
By Mike Waldner
Daily Breeze
You never know when a coach is telling the truth, in part because most coaches probably do not know themselves. The week started with Karl Dorrell, UCLA's coach, delivering a scouting report on Washington's Huskies. "It's a talented team," he said. There was not even the hint of a grin to indicate he was joking. Joking? Not Dorrell. Not during the football season. Not about as formidable an opponent as Washington. He was shaking in his boots about the Huskies, with their 1-3 record, with their lone win against Idaho, with their 56-17 loss at home to Cal. And the ladies in the Office Depot Championship are going to start calling the Trump National Golf Course ugly. Kidding aside, the Bruins were back. After 6-7 and 6-6 records in his first two years on the job, years in which critics and fair-weather fans agreed that Dorrell appeared overmatched, UCLA had the look of at least a solid team that perhaps could be ready to challenge college football's elite. Yes, the wins were against San Diego State, Rice and an ineffective, what-happened-to-these-guys? Oklahoma team. No matter. Dorrell's team was 3-0. That's all that counted. Or so it seemed. The Bruins were averaging 49.3 points and 441.3 yards a game. They were ranked 20th in the nation and had what seemed to be extremely reasonable expectations of improving their poll position. Ever-cautious Karl had another point to make.
"We have some things to prove," he said. They did a lot more proving than he intended or, his grim comments to the contrary, he really expected Saturday night at the Rose Bowl against Washington. Washington beat UCLA. The replay officials beat UCLA. Most of all, UCLA beat UCLA. And then, to completely confuse everyone, UCLA won the game, 21-17. The summary? UCLA is not yet ready to play with the big boys. This said, give the Bruins credit for having the grit to come back and win on a night when their last two teams would have lost. Says who? Says Drew Olson, UCLA's quarterback. "Last year, we lost three games we could have won," he said earlier this season. "Maybe we should have won (those games). The year before, we would have been blown out. So we're improving." At this point, that's what is most important to Dorrell as he builds his program. Olson, efficient, effective and even electrifying at the top of his senior year, had a split personality game that mirrored the game UCLA played. In the first half, he was a pitcher who lost his release point. He completed only eight of 18 passes, which was quite a drop-off from his 71.8 completion percentage going into the game. Worse yet, he threw his first two interceptions of the season. In the second half, he pulled himself together, discovered his rhythm, threw two touchdown passes and completed six passes in a row to set up Maurice Drew's 1-yard touchdown run to win the game. He ended the day completing 29 of 44 passes for 287 yards. Drew gained 322 yards and scored five touchdowns against Washington last season. The Huskies held him to a mere 33 yards this time. Tight end Marcedes Lewis, a blocker or decoy during the first half, caught six of his eight passes, including one for a touchdown, when the Bruins made him a major part of their second half game plan. Had UCLA not pulled out this victory, the lines between Westwood and Pacific-10 Conference headquarters in Walnut Creek would be buzzing over a decision by the replay officials in the third quarter. With the Huskies leading, 10-7, Washington running back Kenny James scored a touchdown. Except he fumbled into the end zone. You expected the replay officials to rule (a) Wasington fumble, (b) UCLA recovery in the end zone for a touchback, (c) UCLA ball on the 20 with the score still 10-7. The replay officials got part of it. They ruled no touchdown. Then, in their infinite wisdom, they inexplicably ruled James' forward momentum had been stopped. Washington still had the ball. Isaiah Stanback, the Huskies quarterback who had an excellent game, scored on the next play to put Washington on top, 17-7.
Right then, UCLA could have folded. As Olson had suggested, a year ago, two years ago, they no doubt would have folded. This time, they took a deep breath, they took two or three deep breaths, maybe they took a dozen deep breaths, and then found a way to win. "It's relief for a moment because we won the game," Dorrell said. "But I still see a lot of things we have to work on." It's much easier to work on things when you're a winner.
No comments:
Post a Comment