As the ball sailed silently toward the goalposts, all anyone had
to do was listen.
The “thunking” sound it made as it hit the left
upright said everything ““ Cal had missed what could have been
a game-tying kick in overtime and the Bruins had eked out a 23-20
victory at the Rose Bowl Saturday.
“On the field goal, I was thinking this had to be the last
play,” defensive end Mat Ball said. “I didn’t
know how much more we could give it.”
With the sound of the failed field goal try still reverberating
throughout the stadium, the UCLA players rushed onto the field in a
mixture of celebration and relief.Â
The defense, which had been on the field for more than 35
minutes in the blistering 93-degree heat, held Cal (3-5, 1-2
Pac-10) to just one yard on its first two plays of the overtime.
Then on third-and-nine from the UCLA 24-yard line, linebacker
Justin London corralled tailback Adimchinobe Echemandu nine yards
behind the line of scrimmage, forcing Tyler Fredrickson’s
errant 50-yard field goal attempt.
Fredrickson missed a total of four field goals ““ two of
which were blocked by linebacker Spencer Havner. But even with all
of the Bears’ kicking miscues, UCLA knew its fourth-straight
victory was too close for comfort.
“When they missed the field goal, we all breathed a big
sigh of relief,” tailback Tyler Ebell said. “But
really, it shouldn’t have come to that.”
The Bruins (5-2, 3-0) held an eight-point lead in the fourth
quarter after linebacker Brandon Chillar returned the second of
Havner’s two blocks for a 65-yard touchdown. But a botched
extra point attempt kept the score at 20-12 and the game within one
touchdown.
Cal, which hadn’t mounted a sustained drive all afternoon,
got the ball back with just over two minutes to play, and moved the
ball methodically down the field. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who
threw for 322 yards against a UCLA secondary that was without
cornerback Matt Ware, found Echemandu and Geoff McArthur for key
first down completions to give the Bears a chance to win.
Then on fourth and 10 with just 11 seconds remaining in the
game, Rodgers completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to receiver Burl
Toler and Echemandu hauled in a short pass for the two point
conversion to tie the game at 20-20.
“You never think a game is over,” Chillar said.
“But I think some people thought this one was
over.”
Prior to allowing the last minute touchdown, UCLA’s
defense had been brilliant. Defensive end Dave Ball recorded three
sacks, putting him only a half a sack away from breaking
UCLA’s career record of 26.5, and the Bruin defense
repeatedly tightened once the Bears moved within striking
distance.
Echemandu came into the game averaging 91.1 rushing yards per
game, but was held to just 42 against UCLA.
“We wanted to do a much better job of stopping the run in
the game, period,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. “We
were mission accomplished in our run stoppage today.”
But while the defense continues to be the backbone of the team,
the offense was again inconsistent throughout most of the game.
Though the Bruins opened the game with a 66-yard scoring drive
capped by quarterback Drew Olson’s 31-yard touchdown pass to
tight end Marcedes Lewis, UCLA’s next six offensive plays
combined for negative 16-yards.
Olson was sacked six times in the game for a total of 65 yards
lost, as quarterback Matt Moore watched helplessly from the
sidelines. Although Olson completed just nine passes, Moore never
entered the game despite Dorrell’s pre-game assurances that
he would play.
One player who did re-establish his presence in the offense was
Lewis, who caught several key passes and led the team with 67 yards
receiving.
While there undoubtedly is concern among the coaching staff
about the offensive inconsistency, Dorrell is pleased that the
Bruins escaped with their perfect Pac-10 record intact.
“The Cal game is always a tough, hard-fought game,”
he said. “Today was no different, but we found a way to come
out with a victory.”