CORVALLIS, Ore. ““ It seemed as if UCLA were walking into a
Halloween nightmare on this October day.
The football team was on the road, down by two touchdowns and
without its starting tailback in the conference opener against
Oregon State. The Beavers, naturally decked out in orange and
black, owned a seven-game home winning streak. The Bruins,
meanwhile, had their own streak last year, losing four straight in
the Pac-10.
But they were only disguising themselves as the Bad News Bruins
of the past on Saturday. The Bruins tricked the Beavers into
thinking they were down and treated themselves to a 625-yard
offensive output, scoring 29 unanswered points to come back for a
sweet 43-35 win.
“The knock on us is that we don’t do well in league
play, but we’re fighters,” UCLA tight end Mike Seidman
said. “It’s great to come from behind.”
Oregon State (4-2, 0-2 Pac-10) drew first blood when tailback
Steven Jackson took a pitch, shot through a gaping hole, and ran 80
yards for a touchdown on the Beavers’ first play from
scrimmage. UCLA (4-1, 1-0) then had a field goal attempt blocked by
Nick Barnett, and All-American Dennis Weathersby raced in for an
83-yard touchdown return.
“Those were fluke plays, so not one time during the game
was anyone worried that we were going to lose,” defensive
tackle Sean Phillips said.
UCLA was down 14-0 as fast as its fans back home could say
“boo.” After six minutes and only one offensive play
run by the Beavers, the crowd in Corvallis thought Oregon State had
it in the bag. But the Bruins still had some goodies left, as an
unlikely cast of characters showed up to play hero.
Tailback Tyler Ebell replaced Manuel White, who had pulled his
hamstring in the first quarter, and saved the day. The redshirt
freshman entered the game as green as the Reser Stadium AstroTurf
but slashed his way for 208 yards on 29 carries and the go-ahead
5-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Ebell also had a 73-yard run
in the fourth to set up a 1-yard plunge by junior Akil Harris, who
was projected to be White’s backup.
“I didn’t expect to go out there and play almost the
whole game, but I’m not mad that I did,” Ebell said,
smiling.
Quarterback Cory Paus put up some freakish numbers himself,
going 24-of-32 for a career-high 378 yards and a touchdown. The
normally inconsistent senior, who after the game moved up to second
on the school’s all-time passing list, had the Bruins
constantly knocking on the door.
“I’ve been talking a little bit of the talk, and I
don’t think there’s too much I can hear negative about
this week,” Paus said. “It’s one more week
that’s going to be easier to sleep.”
Nine different Bruins caught balls, with Seidman (eight catches,
138 yards, TD) and junior wide receiver Tab Perry (seven catches,
145 yards) being the main beneficiaries.
Paus was having such a monster game that head coach Bob Toledo
had him throw on 4th-and-goal from the 2 and UCLA trailing 14-10
late in the second quarter. The play failed, but on the following
snap, Bruin linebacker Marcus Reese broke through the line and
brought down Jackson in the end zone for a safety to cut the Beaver
lead to two points at halftime.
UCLA’s defense, ranked eighth in the Pac-10, held the
line. Oregon State’s Derek Anderson threw for 260 yards and
two touchdowns, but went 16-of-41 with two interceptions, one of
which was returned by cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. for a 33-yard
touchdown. Jackson also had a ghastly performance, gaining only 24
yards on 14 attempts minus his long touchdown run.
After the victory, the Bruins had to smile. Some giggled. But
with the bashing of the Beavers, UCLA might actually have to be
taken seriously.
“We’ve been disrespected and counted out by a lot of
people this year,” offensive guard Eyoseph Efseaff said.
“We want a ring this year, and we’re going to fight our
butts off to get it.”