Welcome to the theme park that is the UCLA football team.
The biggest up-and-down roller coaster ride may be quarterback
Cory Paus.
Entering Saturday’s game on a high after finishing with a
career-high 378 passing yards last week, Paus’ first pass was
a 55-yard touchdown to receiver Tab Perry, giving UCLA a 7-0
lead.
But then, on the ensuing possession, Paus underthrew his
intended target, and the pass fell into the waiting hands of an
Oregon defender.
You got the feeling that this was going to be typical Paus
““ a great game overall, but lacking that extra something to
push UCLA over the edge.
For his two first-half touchdown passes to Craig Bragg, there
were his three first-half interceptions, the last of which gave
Oregon the ball at the its own 33 with 52 seconds left in the
half.
The Ducks were only able to drive to the UCLA 42, but that was
enough, as Duck place-kicker Jared Siegel kicked a 59-yard line
drive through the uprights ““ a field goal that turned out to
be the difference.
For his completion on an out to Bragg on third and seven in the
Bruins’ final drive, there was a play on the previous drive
when Paus didn’t take a hit and was called for intentional
grounding, pushing UCLA out of field goal range.
“It was a tough call,” Paus said of the intentional
grounding. “I should have made it easier. It shouldn’t
have even been an issue.”
In retrospect, Paus played a solid game aside from the
mistakes.
His 316 passing yards was the seventh highest total in the
nation.
It’s all the more amazing considering that he was sacked
four times and slammed to the ground many more.
“He was probably a little frustrated by those early
picks,” Bragg said. “But he’s matured and
he’s a senior, which is why he bounced back from those
interceptions, and made some plays for us in the second half. He
put us right there.”
If anyone believes this game rested on Paus’ shoulders,
it’s the senior quarterback himself.
“I wish I had played better,” a subdued Paus said
following the game. “When you have the mistakes I had, it
definitely hurts your team.”
Maybe it was Paus’ fault, maybe it wasn’t. But
UCLA’s offense found itself in good position time and time
again, only to come away without anything to show for its
efforts.
In the third quarter, with the Bruins holding onto a 30-24 lead,
UCLA drove from its own 20 to the Oregon 23, only to have Paus
sacked for a loss of 11 yards that pushed the Bruins out of field
goal range.
That series was a microcosm of the ease and efficiency of the
UCLA offensive engine ““ except near the goal line, when that
same engine sputtered.
In all, the Bruin offense racked up 477 total offensive yards
““ a very impressive total, but not enough to pull out the
victory.
“We just couldn’t put enough plays together,”
Paus said. “I had hoped it would be everybody’s big day
today, but it wasn’t. I’m going to think about this one
for a little bit.”
For the football team to have any success this season, it will
have to continue to ride on the Paus roller coaster.
UCLA fans, coaches and players alike can only hope that there
are many more highs than lows.