EUGENE, Ore. – UCLA suffered its second loss of the season on
Saturday at the hands of the University of Oregon, falling 30-20 at
Autzen Stadium.
In a matchup between a pair of Pac-10 teams with only one loss
each, the game was surprisingly lopsided. Led by a sweeping ariel
and ground attack from quarterback Dennis Dixon, the Bruin defense
was picked apart by the No. 18 Ducks early on in the first quarter,
giving up two quick touchdowns on the first two drives and setting
the tone for the rest of the afternoon.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Pat Cowan, making his first ever
start for UCLA (4-2) in place of the injured Ben Olson, had trouble
figuring out the swarming Duck defense. Under constant assault from
Oregon (5-1), which was looking for redemption after its
embarrassing blowout loss at California a weak earlier, Cowan
finished with 112 yards and no touchdowns.
Though the Bruins would manage to get two field goals from
senior kicker Justin Medlock in the first half, trading kicks for
touchdowns was not going to be enough to keep UCLA in the game
against Oregon’s high-powered offense. The Bruins trailed
20-3 going into halftime.
The Ducks dashed away any hopes of a Bruin comeback early in the
third frame, scoring on backup quarterback Brady Leaf’s
shovel pass to James Finley.
Catching UCLA off guard, Oregon recovered the ensuing onside
kick, much to the delight of the 58,618 in attendance.
Cowan and the Bruins finally found the end zone early in the
fourth quarter when Kahlil Bell scored on a one yard to cap a drive
that started with a Dennis Keyes interception of Brady. Bell scored
again in the waning minutes of the game after an Oregon miscue on a
punt return.