SEATTLE – The Bruins were dominant. All throughout the first
quarter, UCLA marched up the field, cleverly mixing running plays
and passing plays to get to the red zone. UCLA outgained Washington
146 to four. But all they had to show for their three trips to the
red zone was 13 points.
Behind a curious mix of red zone play calling and general
inaccuracy and indecision from quarterback Ben Olson, the Bruins
scored just one touchdown on Saturday night in Seattle.
“In this conference, we’re not going to win games if
we’re just scoring one touchdown a game on offense,”
said running back Chris Markey, who rushed for 124 yards and the
sole touchdown. “We can’t live – we can’t make it
through the season just kicking field goals.”
The Bruins had five chances inside the red zone but scored just
one touchdown on a run by Markey in the first quarter. Kicker
Justin Medlock made all of his field goal chances, but his four
attempts were far too many for a team that desperately needed to
match the late offensive output of the Huskies.
“We made Justin Medlock look like he was going to win the
Heisman,” offensive lineman Shannon Tevaga said. “We
were hyped every drive to get in the end zone. To go out there and
kick field goals made us really pissed.”
The play calling inside the red zone was suspect. At one point
late in the third quarter with the Bruins holding onto a slim 16-14
lead, offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda called a running play on
third down on the Huskies’ 10-yard line. Khalil Bell
predictably did not reach the end zone, ending up five yards short.
The call was indicative of a night where the play calling went from
dynamic in the open field to ultra conservative when the field of
play shortened.
“Obviously, I want the ball,” said wide receiver
Junior Taylor, who had one catch for eight yards. “The
receivers want the ball. You can only make plays if you have the
ball. It’s as simple as that. You’ve got to go to them
to make plays, but it is what it is.”
The playcalling may have been influenced by Olson’s bad
night. Olson was 18 of 31 on the night, but threw two
interceptions, one of which was in the red zone. Many of his
incompletions were balls thrown too high for his receivers to
catch. Without good play from Olson, thoughts of a comeback were
basically a pipe dream.
“(Washington scored) and we didn’t respond,”
Taylor said. “We never responded. Not once. We had the lead
and then we blew the game.”
The Bruins placed most of the blame on themselves after the
game, saying that failure in executing their own offensive plays
was the problem, not the Husky defense.
“They weren’t (showing us anything new),”
offensive lineman Robert Chai said. “They did everything we
expected them to do. You’ve got to give them credit – they
kept pushing and pushing, but we just couldn’t finish our
drives.”
With a minute to go in first half, the Bruins received the ball
after the Huskies’ first touchdown. With the score 16-7 and
with the Huskies receiving the ball after halftime, the Bruins
elected to essentially run the clock out, leaving the Huskies with
the momentum entering the second half. It was another curiosity in
a long night of curious play calls.