Down 15-0 before half the stadium filled up, left for dead with
a quarterback who couldn’t even legally buy porn two months
ago, the Bruins did a crazy thing.
They survived. And moved on.
Just like Little Mario.
It wasn’t pretty, but when the evening fog had cleared at
the Rose Bowl, the Bruins and their soaking-behind-the-ears QB had
succeeded in not failing. They had avoided self-destruction just
when Stanford had its finger hovering over the button.
Wait. Just like who?
Why, Little Mario, of course.
What, you’ve never pulled off the unthinkable, beginning a
level as Little Mario and somehow inexplicably making it through
unscathed to the next level?
Of course you have. Felt like a survivor when you did,
didn’t you? Just one flying turtle or stupid walking bomb
away from death?
It’s not easy when you’re just one mistake away from
Game Over. And that, if nothing else, gives us something to take
away from UCLA’s 28-18 win over the Harvard of the West.
The Bruins had been chucking fireballs and mostly walking tall,
until Cory Paus and Drew Olson both went down with injuries last
weekend at Cal.
QB one, gone. QB two, gone. Think about going from Fire Mario
down to Tall Mario, then shrinking into smallish, wimpy, Little
Mario. Just like that.
And so the Bruins came in Saturday, smaller in stature and
““ like Little Mario ““ vulnerable, trying anything to
get by, knowing one more loss might spell the end to a season
already heading southward.
One life left, one level to beat. We’ve all been there in
the eight-bit world ““ you hold down the “B”
button, run as fast as you can, jump when you see danger and hope
for the best ““ but how would the Bruins respond?
For starters, Bob Toledo pulled the redshirt off 18-year-old
Matt Moore, a freshman who until this week had taken snaps only
with the scout team, and, of course, hoped for the best.
Early on, he got the absolute worst. The Bruin defense forced a
three-and-out to open the game and looked to be easing Moore in
with some solid field position.
But fellow freshman Tyler Ebell couldn’t handle the punt
and Stanford scored in just over two minutes. To worsen matters,
the too-smart-for-the-world (as only a Stanford reject could put
it) Cardinal pulled out an unexpected sucker punch fake PAT to put
the pressure on with an 8-0 lead.
Moore completed his first college pass on the ensuing drive, but
his second snap sailed between his legs and eventually into the
hands of the onrushing Cardinal, who scored to make it 15-nil.
You had to feel for Moore. Two snaps in, and down 15 points, in
an absolute must-win game.
Welcome to UCLA football, Matt!
The early knocks were bad, for sure. But not fatal. And Toledo
had stressed that.
“Going into this game, we spoke about attitude and
effort,” he said. “I asked our players and coaches to
give a little more.”
In response, they gave Toledo just that. A 36-yard field goal by
Nate Fikse wasn’t much ““ it only narrowed the lead to
12 ““ but hey, it was a successful scoring drive right after
the Stanford blitzkrieg.
And what followed was a more focused, if not aesthetically
pleasing Bruin attack.
Over the next 50 minutes, they dodged, dove, jumped, rode all
170 pounds of Tyler Ebell for 39 carries and 160 yards.
And undermanned, thin with resources, they won.
Just like Little Mario.
This isn’t to sing the praises of a season’s
resurrection. Moore was impressive at times but on a whole still
Dilferesque, finishing 7-for-19 with 142 yards but no
interceptions.
He’s still a freshman, and if he starts in the coming
weeks, he’ll have two road crowds to face. But Ebell’s
running, along with Fikse’s kicking and the defense’s
typically strong effort, were encouraging.
“We kept it simple, yet we scored 28 points,” Toledo
said.
Little Mario survived, made it to the end. And so, on to the
next level. Now we’ll have to see just how many Continues the
Bruins have left.