EUGENE, Ore “”mdash; UCLA came into Saturday’s matchup
knowing its defense, ranked second statistically in the country,
would be the key to leaving vaunted Autzen Stadium victorious. But
after Oregon’s first two series, it was clear that the Ducks
were not buying into any of the hype.
The Bruins (4-2) fell to the No. 18 Oregon Ducks (5-1) in a game
that was much more lopsided than the final score of 30-20 would
indicate.
Though UCLA had been boasting a dominating defense as of late, a
number of miscues combined with an explosive Duck offense proved to
be too much for the visiting team to overcome.
FLASH SLIDESHOW
See more photos from UCLA Football’s match with the Oregon
Ducks.
“(The Ducks) were good, but we made them better than they
were,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “If we go out
there and miss tackles against anybody, they are going to
capitalize. I’m not taking anything away from Oregon; they
are a good football team. But when it comes down to it, we beat
ourselves today.”
Behind a raucous, sold-out crowd of 58,618, Oregon wasted no
time in establishing that it was not intimidated by the team that
was leading the Pac-10 in total defense. On the first drive of the
game, quarterback Dennis Dixon and the Duck offense took it right
to the Bruins, scoring in just seven plays with a pass to tight end
Dante Rosario.
The mobile Dixon would be a thorn in UCLA’s side all day,
both through the air and on the ground, as he led an offensive
attack that continuously took chunks of yardage from the Bruins in
the first quarter, moving the ball at will.
After a quick three-and-out by the offense on the ensuing UCLA
possession, Dixon duplicated the previous drive, bringing his team
into the red zone with ease as Jeremiah Johnson punched in
Oregon’s second touchdown of the afternoon from seven yards
out. Halfway through the first quarter, the team from Westwood
found itself in a big hole, from which it would never recover.
Although UCLA came into the game with one of the best run
defenses in the nation, Oregon shredded the Bruins on the ground
for 256 total yards as the Duck offensive lines opened up giant
holes in the defense.
“We weren’t intimidated, but once they started
getting the ball rolling, (they got) a few big runs here and there,
and then penalties,” defensive end Nikola Dragovic said.
“That’s what will get momentum going for offenses.
And when it is a good offense, it is hard to stop that
momentum,” Dragovic said.
On several occasions when the defense seemed to have come up
with a big stop, careless penalties ““ such as a number of
pass-interference calls and also a penalty for roughing the kicker
““ prolonged the Oregon drives.
“We made too many mistakes,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell
said. “Our defense had some penalties that extended some
drives. We have to execute better. We have to have better focus,
especially on the road.”
On offense, redshirt sophomore quarterback Pat Cowan, replacing
the injured Ben Olson, was greeted harshly in his first collegiate
start as he had trouble figuring out the swarming Duck defense.
When UCLA did manage to stop Oregon, its offense was unable to
respond.
“We had opportunities, but we didn’t take advantage
of them,” redshirt senior wide out Junior Taylor said.
“We knew they were going to come out fast, but we
didn’t respond when our defense gave us opportunities. When
they stopped them, we needed to respond, but we never did
that.”
The only points which the team received in the first half came
off of the foot of senior kicker Justin Medlock, who connected on a
pair of field goals in each of the first two quarters.
After the Ducks scored 20 points on UCLA in their first three
drives, it was apparent that the Bruins were not going to be
competitive by trading kicks for touchdowns.
The Bruin defense seemed to settle down in the second half,
though Oregon would quell any hopes of a comeback when, with just
under four minutes left in the third, backup quarterback Brady
Leaf, briefly subbing for Dixon, tossed a touchdown shovel pass to
wide out James Finley, putting the Ducks up by three scores.
UCLA seemed to come alive a bit in the fourth quarter, when an
interception by junior free safety Dennis Keyes helped set up a
Bell one-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 13-27.
Oregon refused to shut the door on the Bruins, as the Ducks
became victims of their own sloppy play, giving the UCLA offense
several opportunities to get back into the game.
But Oregon’s lead proved to be insurmountable after a
Ducks field goal with just over five minutes remaining sealed the
game.
Trailing by 17 late, Bell would score again in the waning
minutes of the contest to make the score more respectable, after an
Oregon miscue on a punt return landed the Bruins in the red
zone.
The loss now makes next weekend’s trip to South Bend
against powerhouse Notre Dame even bigger, as another loss would be
a big blow to the team’s bowl hopes.
“We can’t meet our goals if we keep on
losing,” junior offensive guard Shannon Tevaga said.
“Every game now is big.”