SPECIAL TEAMS HELP DO IN CAL AGAINST UCLA
By Jay Heater
Knight Ridder
PASADENA - Trampled in the wake of Maurice Drew's five-touchdown day, the Cal football team left Southern California searching for answers. How could a team that rushed for 330 yards lose? How could a team leading 40-28 in the fourth quarter be tricked on a fake punt? How could Drew shred the Bears for 162 yards on three returns when punter David Lonie was instructed to keep the ball away from him? Those are questions that Coach Jeff Tedford will have to tackle. For now, though, after this 47-40 loss on Saturday, the Bears (5-1, 2-1) take a back seat to UCLA (5-0, 2-0) in the race to challenge USC for the Pacific-10 championship. It was the second time in two seasons that Cal left Southern California with a heartbreaking loss that could be attributed in a large part to poor special-teams play. It was special teams that came up short last season in Cal's 23-17 loss to USC; a fumbled punt, a poor snap on a punt and two missed field-goal tries saddled the Bears with their only regular-season loss. It was more of the same Saturday in a matchup of unbeaten teams in front of 84,811 at the Rose Bowl.
``There were a lot of things that hurt us,'' Tedford said. ``Special teams was one of them. We allowed those big returns. We let Maurice Drew get loose too many times. It didn't look like he broke a bunch of tackles. To have a guy just run clean down the field is something we have to look very strongly at.'' Tedford was quick to point out that there are other questions to be answered. ``There were plays out there to be made all over the field.'' The guy making those plays was Drew, the former De La Salle High School star who has become one of the most dangerous offensive players in the conference. He scored three rushing touchdowns against Cal, caught one touchdown pass and returned a punt 81 yards to the end zone in the third quarter. Two of his touchdowns came in the final two minutes, as UCLA outscored Cal 19-3 in the final quarter. But it was the way he scored on his long return in the third quarter, along with his 69-yard punt return in the first quarter, that will leave the Bears searching for answers. So, too, will UCLA's success on a fake punt with just more than nine minutes to play. Trailing 40-28, the Bruins had a fourth-and-two at their 42-yard line when up-man Jarrad Page took a handoff and scooted 38 yards around the left end. A personal foul at the end of the play gave UCLA a first down at Cal's 10. Three plays later, Olson sneaked in from the 1. UCLA stopped Cal on its next drive and then went on a five-play, 75-yard march capped by Drew's 28-yard touchdown reception. That made it 41-40 in favor of the Bruins with 1:35 left. Still, UCLA failed when it went for two, giving Cal a chance at a winning drive. The Bears got off to a rough start on their next possession, tight end Craig Stevens drawing a penalty for pass interference. On the next play, Joe Ayoob's pass was intercepted by cornerback Trey Brown and returned to the Cal 7. UCLA not only ran out the clock, but it scored on the final play, a 2-yard run by Drew. The special-teams errors wiped out performances that should have led Cal to victory. Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch combined to run for 288 yards; Ayoob passed for 215 yards and two touchdowns before his late interception; and DeSean Jackson caught 10 passes for 128 yards -- all part of 545 yards of offense. But the Bears squandered several scoring opportunities. And, of course, there was Drew.
No comments:
Post a Comment