CHAMPAIGN, Ill. “”mdash; UCLA may finally be getting its point
across.
After an offseason spent reiterating its confidence in and
improvement of an offense that last year ranged from bland to
dysfunctional, UCLA had its way with Illinois’ defense Saturday.
Producing equally effective running and passing games, the Bruins
ran up a 35-17 victory over the Illini, halting a six-game losing
streak dating back to last October.
“It was hard on myself as a quarterback and hard on
everybody that took part in it,” said junior quarterback Drew
Olson of last season’s struggles. “That’s the way
it is when you’re not successful over the course of thirteen
games.
“We knew we were going to be a good offense. There
wasn’t a doubt in my mind.”
And from the Bruins’ first drive, there was little doubt
that the UCLA offense was going to have a very good day.
After UCLA’s defensive front stuffed the Illini on fourth
and inches in the red zone on the game’s opening possession,
the offense took over and promptly marched 96 yards in six plays,
culminating in a 41-yard heave from Olson that dropped into the
outstretched arms of senior wide receiver Craig Bragg as he dove
across the goal line.
“That was a big stop, to be able to do that inside our
five-yard line,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “That was a
great momentum change for us, and our offense and defense really
fed on it.”
On its next possession, UCLA (1-1) returned to the successful
ground attack it had established against Oklahoma State in the
season opener.
Whereas last week senior tailback Manuel White, Jr. grabbed the
spotlight, Saturday it was sophomore tailback Maurice Drew’s
turn to shine. After three runs by White picked up a first down,
Drew provided the drive’s exclamation point by taking the
handoff up the middle, breaking a tackle, and bouncing outside
where no one touched him as he glided in for a 47-yard
touchdown.
“We noticed that they were playing more inside, so we
decided to run outside plays,” said Drew, who led the Bruins
in rushing with 151 yards.
The Illini (1-1) came within seven points after converting a
touchdown to begin the second quarter, but would not draw any
closer for the rest of the game. The Bruins soon capitalized on the
second fumble forced by junior strong safety Jarrad Page with a
17-yard Olson strike to Bragg, the receiver’s second touchdown of
the game, to take a 21-7 lead into halftime.
UCLA emerged from the intermission determined on putting the
game out of Illinois’ reach. It conducted a textbook
ten-play, 80-yard drive that featured the Bruin offensive line
overwhelming the Illini defensive front. The Bruins stuck to the
ground for seven-straight plays, capped by White’s one-yard
plunge into the end zone.
“We’re learning how to play the game with
passion,” first-year offensive coordinator and offensive line
coach Tom Cable said. “We’re learning how to grind.
We’re learning how to play with a violent level, high-tempo
with violence.”
“The running game carried us more than the passing game
and that was the idea,” Olson said. “We thought we
could pound it on them and had a great matchup up front. The five
guys, six guys up front —, hats off to them.”
After a second Illini touchdown, Olson added a fifth Bruin
touchdown, hitting tight end Marcedes Lewis for a fifteen-yard
score.
Olson’s three touchdowns were a career high, and the
Bruins’ 481 yards were the most they’ve amassed in a
game since 2002.
“Whenever we had to respond, when Illinois came up with
something, our offense was able to do something in response,”
Dorrell said. “That’s the sign of a good
offense.”
“Everybody was lighting up,” Olson said. “We
wanted to get the ball every time the defense was out
there.”
Despite all of the offensive enthusiasm, the architect behind
the revival refused to express satisfaction, harping on what can be
improved and what went wrong, including a botched fourth-down goal
line play in which Olson rolled out the wrong way resulting in a
sack.
“We messed up on the goal line play and that bothers me
because I don’t think we handled that well. That’s on
me,” Cable said.
He also had a more lighthearted critique of the play before that
in which Olson charged up the middle and leaped for the end zone,
but was knocked and flipped in the air, landing hard and just
short.
“That one naked (bootleg) when he came out and kept it, I
would like him to slide,” Cable said. “We need to get
him a Slip-and-Slide and learn how to do that. He thought he was
Walter Payton for a minute, and that’s not his
deal.”
And that was pretty much all to criticize, as the UCLA offense
carried the Bruins to a convincing win. Even though it was over a
pitiful Illinois squad that took home a 1-11 record last year, it
was a win they absolutely needed for confidence, as they begin the
Pac-10 schedule next week against Washington.
“It feels good just to get a win, to get that out the way,
and now we know we can do it,” Bragg said.
“We haven’t won in a long time. It’s
great,” Page said. “We all want to feel that again
“¦ next week.”