SEATTLE, Wash – Almost every time he had the ball, it seemed
possible for tailback Maurice Drew to end up in the end zone. There
he went; once, twice and five touch downs later, Drew had scored 30
points for the Bruins and left all in attendance at Husky Stadium
with the feeling they had witnessed something truly special.
Breaking not only UCLA’s record for most rushing yards in a
single game but also the most touchdowns by a Bruin in a single
game, Drew, who constituted each of UCLA’s five touchdowns, gave a
once-in-a-lifetime performance Saturday to help the Bruins edge out
the Washington Huskies 37-31. He ran for 323 yards on 26 carries,
breaking DeShaun Foster’s 2001 record of four touchdowns and
301-yards.
 "This little man is something else," UCLA coach Karl
Dorrell said. "He’s a special kid. And all our guys are good, but
he really energized us today."
It was Drew’s spectacular night that catalyzed a struggling
Bruin squad in the first quarter, during which he rushed for three
touchdowns and helped to bring UCLA back from a 24-7 deficit.
Drew’s first-quarter hat trick came after breaking runs for 47,
62 and 58 yards respectively in only four total carries. By the end
of the first half, he was averaging 18.1 yards per carry.
"I’m proud of the whole team, it’s not really me," said a humble
Drew. "I would rather just accept the whole team did it. The
defense stopped them, the offense came in and made holes for me and
Manuel (White) and (quarterback) Drew Olson did his job. They did
what they had to do."
He scored his fourth touchdown on a 15-yard run with 4:16 left
in the first half, giving the Bruins their first lead of the day at
27-24. Then Drew wowed everyone in attendance in the third
quarter on an amazingly athletic play in which he dodged four
different Husky defenders en route to a 37-yard scamper into the
end zone for his fifth and final touchdown of the night.
"He was amazing," White said. "It was just fun to watch him. I
definitely knew he had it in him. But that doesn’t happen too much.
Tonight it was like I was a fan watching him run."
Drew rushing performance was No. 3 on the Pac-10’s all-time list
and helped the Bruins win their second game in a row. But even with
Drew’s tremendous night, UCLA was forced to hold their breath until
the final play of the game.
Leading 37-31 with 6:02 left in the game, the Bruins had control
of the ball and tried to run out the clock. But with 40 seconds
left, UCLA found itself at the Washington 38-yard line, with a
fourth and one looming.
The Bruins devised a play that attempted to entice the Huskies
into an offsides penalty, in which Olson called for the ball,
though each of the Bruin linemen knowing not to move. Center Mike
McCloskey looked across the line of scrimmage, seeing that
Washington’s defensive line had moved early and hiked the ball to
Olson who took a knee. But unfortunately for the Bruins, the
referees did not see any infraction, and control of the ball was
given back to the Huskies.
"That was the plan, and it worked out almost perfectly
except the refs didn’t catch it," Dorrell said. "Probably if I was
put in that situation again, we would do it again because they were
controlling that game at that point."
"I’ve done it before, I’ve done it my whole life and I’ve never
snapped it," McCloskey said. "This time the ref said he wasn’t in
the neutral zone, but it looked like that to me. Anyway, the
defense had my back."
Washington was then able to push the ball to the Bruin 27-yard
line with six seconds left to spare. Then on the final play of the
game, Husky quarterback Casey Paus found receiver Charles Frederick
for a 26-yard pass, but Frederick was tackled by Matt Clark and Ben
Emanuel at the 1-yard line as time expired.
"In practice we talked about sudden changes that could happen,
turnovers or whatever it may be," linebacker Wesley Walker
said. "So when we were talking on the sidelines, we knew that
we could have to be ready to go one more time, because we never
know what can happen. So I don’t think anyone was unprepared, and
we were confident for what we were going to do."
But while the Bruin defense showed tremendous resolve in the
final drive of the game, it still took four Drew touchdowns to get
UCLA out of the first quarter hole in which Washington capitalized
on numerous penalties and one fumble. In less then two minutes, the
Huskies had three touchdowns and the Bruins appeared to be spinning
out of control.
But then, spurred by a tremendous offensive line performance,
Drew began his stunning showing.
"The whole offensive line was really (pushing) because Maurice
was running his heart out," McCloskey said. "We opened up some good
holes and he opened some of his own and it really came together
well."
It was after the first quarter that the Bruins ““
spearheaded by Drew ““ began to regain their composure both
offensive and defensively. UCLA netted 546-yards offensively; the
highest total in Dorrell’s coaching tenure. And though Olson’s
night was marred slightly with one interception, he still produced
an efficient line, completing 12 of 17 passes for 122
yards.
But still, the rainy night in Seattle was all Drew’s.
He demonstrated clearly that he is UCLA’s future and that while
he carried the ball magnificently on Saturday night, he also will
likely carry the Bruins atop his 5-foot-8 shoulders for whatever
success the squad will garner.Â
"I think the biggest magnitude is that we won," said offensive
coordinator Tom Cable of Drew’s impact. "For the kid to that, for
Manny (White) to do what he did, and all the kids around him to be
playing hard like that. In the end of the day, we won. Tomorrow and
the days after you can enjoy that stuff. But right now we won and
that’s all that should matter."