A fan at a Cal practice this week gave a vivid account of last year's game against UCLA. "It was like slow motion," he said. "The fans, the coaches and the players were yelling, 'Don't kick him the ball,' but there it went, right to him, again and again." Seemingly every time the ball did head toward Maurice Drew he did something spectacular, piling up 299 all-purpose yards, including returning three punts for 162 yards, while leading the Bruins back from a 12-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Drew is gone to the NFL, but the sour feelings from that game still lingered for the Bears as they prepared for today's 5 p.m. game against UCLA at Memorial Stadium. "Everybody who was on that field last year remembers that they took our season from us," sophomore linebacker Worrell Williams said. "After that happened, we lost all of our swagger and everything." Cal had been undefeated before the UCLA game, but after the loss, the Bears lost three of their next four games. "It kind of zapped us of life," senior linebacker Desmond Bishop said. "We needed therapy, but there was no one there to mend our pain, so games started slipping away." The Bears (7-1, 5-0) have taken a different path this season. They regrouped after the season-opening loss to Tennessee, and they're ranked 10th and the only unbeaten team in Pac-10 play.
They're close to fully healthy after last week's bye, and they're ready to showcase their vaunted offense against a UCLA defense that has been near the top of the conference in every statistic for most of the season. The Bruins are second in the Pac-10 in points allowed (18.6) and yards allowed (296.5), and they lead the conference in rushing defense, allowing only 82.1 yards a game. "Defensively, they are one of the top teams in the conference," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "They have good players, and they get after you pretty well." Offense has been the UCLA's weak link as it tries to adjust to life without Drew, tight end Marcedes Lewis and quarterback Drew Olson. "They still have plenty of talent around that offense to make plays, but when you lose draft picks like that (Lewis was a first-round pick, Drew a second-round), that's a lot of firepower," Tedford said. It hasn't come together yet, leaving the Bruins (4-4, 2-3) in a position to decide whether they're going to be more like the Cal squad of last season or this year. All the talk out of Los Angeles this week made it appear like they're more likely to vigorously rally back from their three-game losing skid than simply throw in the towel. "I've reminded the team about how we felt last year after that game," Tedford said. "We felt like we let one slip away, and we had a bad feeling in our stomachs. UCLA is a good football team that will be coming in here anxious to get a win." Unlike last year, the biggest threat from UCLA probably won't come on special teams. Cal punter Andrew Larson is eighth in the nation with a 38.8-yard net average, and because of his great hang time and speedy coverage guys, only 11 of his 32 kicks have been returned. The Bears know those statistics, but it hasn't swayed their focus on special teams. "We'll be paying attention to it," Bishop said, "so we don't have a repeat from last year."
Briefly: Receiver Lavelle Hawkins (ankle) is probable.
Cal today
Who: UCLA (4-4, 2-3 Pac 10) at No. 10 Cal (7-1, 5-0)
When: 5 p.m.
TV: ABC Radio: KGO (810 AM)
Story line: A lot of the focus today will be on special teams, but both teams have gone in opposite directions since last year's game, in which UCLA's Maurice Drew returned three punts for 162 yards. UCLA doesn't have any returners close to the caliber of Drew. The home team has won the last six games in the series, including two overtime games and two others decided by a touchdown or less.
No comments:
Post a Comment