PASADENA “”mdash; Smoking a victory cigar in the locker room,
Steve Axman finally had reason to smile.
In a season that had been defined by offensive incompetence and
ineptitude, the pressure finally came off UCLA’s embattled
offensive coordinator, at least for one week anyway.
The Bruins’ sputtering offense finally came alive as
UCLA’s second-half surge buried No. 17 Washington, 46-16, in
front of 68,319 at the Rose Bowl.
“It’s been a while since we’ve had a win this
satisfying,” junior Matt Ware said.
Trailing 16-7 at halftime, the Bruins (3-2, 1-0 Pac-10) reeled
off 39 unanswered points behind the play of quarterback Drew Olson
and receiver Craig Bragg. Olson completed 16-of-24 passes for 258
yards, while Bragg caught eight passes for 142 yards. For the first
time all season, the UCLA offense consistently moved the ball in
the second half, keeping its defense on the sideline.
“Drew did a great job of managing the offense in the
second half,” safety Jarrad Page said. “He had a couple
of long drives that gave us a breather, and when the offense gave
us the lead, we were able to be a bit more aggressive and force
some turnovers.”
Trailing 16-14 with 9:49 left in the third quarter, and starting
a drive at the UCLA 9-yard line, Olson had the task of
jump-starting a dormant offense. The Bruins hadn’t converted
on a single third down to that point.
However, on third-and-five, Olson completed a quick out to Bragg
for a first down.
On third-and-11 at the Washington 38, Bragg made a spectacular
twisting catch, barely keeping his left foot inbounds, for a
25-yard gain.
And on third-and-eight at the Washington 11, Olson found
receiver Ryan Smith to set up first down and goal from the one-yard
line. Running back Manuel White’s dive and subsequent
reception on the two-point conversion gave the Bruins a 22-16 lead,
and they never looked back.
“We made adjustments on the offensive side in the second
half,” UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell said. “We knew we
had to run the ball, but we were also able to make the big pass
plays when we really needed to.”
Still, if the offense was the engine behind the victory, the
defense that was the spark plug. Defensive tackle Rodney
Leisle’s first play in returning from a first-half suspension
was an end zone fumble recovery off of defensive end Dave
Ball’s sack, pulling UCLA within 16-14. For Ball, it was only
one of 3.5 sacks on the night, but for Leisle, it was a point he
wanted to stick to Washington ““ that UCLA was taking control
of the second half.
“Anytime you have a big play right off the bat in a half
like that, it gives you momentum,” Dorrell said.
“Luckily, we were able to ride that momentum for the rest of
the game.”
With UCLA holding a 22-16 lead, Leisle intercepted a pass after
Washington had driven the length of the field. Leisle grabbed the
deflected pass at the UCLA 12, turning away any Husky attempt to
respond to the Bruin score.
The Bruins added a field goal on their next drive, and then
clinched the victory on the ensuing play. Washington quarterback
Cody Pickett was picked off by safety Jarrad Page, who returned the
interception 24 yards for the touchdown and a 32-16 lead
Olson and Maurice Drew added fourth-quarter touchdowns, and the
rout was on. The UCLA defense, which had been shredded for 13
points on the Huskies first three drives, pitched a second-half
shut out. Washington had just 87 total yards of offense in the
second half, and turned the ball over four times.
“They got way too much in the first half,” London
said. “We went into halftime and basically wanted to shut
this team entirely down. We really didn’t make any
second-half adjustments. I think we just started to focus on what
we had to do.”
Penalties hurt UCLA in the first half, and the defense struggled
to stop the Husky passing attack. By the end of first quarter,
Washington’s standout receiver Reggie Williams had 57
receiving yards and the Huskies were rolling.
However, a defensive adjustment ““ assigning cornerback
Ware onto Williams ““ seemed to effectively stall the Husky
offense.
“A lot of people really hyped up me and Reggie, and he is
one of the best, but it was just me doing my business,” Ware
said.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, Dorrell could only
look upward with both index fingers pointed to the sky. While it
wasn’t quite a cigar, it was still unquestionably a sign of
victory.
“It wasn’t a sigh of relief,” Dorrell said.
“It was more a sense of the execution that we wanted and know
we are capable of. We are getting closer and closer to being the
team that I think we can be.”