The Bruins’ secondary has been garnering much of the blame
for Saturday’s defensive debacle against Washington State,
but to a large extent, the 515 total yards allowed and 405 through
the air was not entirely their fault. UCLA’s defensive line
managed to put very minor pressure on Cougar quarterback Alex
Brink, which allowed him to pick apart the secondary with pinpoint
accuracy.
“You can’t just leave your corners out there and
your safeties out there with no help,” defensive end Bruce
Davis said. “When they have three or four seconds to throw
the ball, it puts a lot of pressure on the defensive backs. I hate
to see all the blame placed on the DBs. For the DBs to play well,
the front has to play well.”
Davis himself managed two sacks in the game, but they came very
early. After the first quarter, the Cougar protection became nearly
impenetrable, with Davis describing it as almost like a punt-block
protection.
“They were sliding the line and bringing in a tight end
and running back to block,” Davis said. “They were just
stepping back and keeping us in front of them.”
Also contributing to the Bruins’ struggles on defense was
the extent to which they were on the field. But despite the fact
that UCLA’s defenders were on the field for 37 minutes of
Saturday’s game, they stopped short of blaming the UCLA
offense for their inability to get rest.
“That’s on us for not getting off the field,”
cornerback Alterraun Verner said. “We can control that if we
wanted to. I’m not frustrated (with the offense) one
bit.”
Davis echoed Verner’s statements, saying that the Bruins
need to go back to the defensive playmaking that was a hallmark of
their aggressive defense earlier in the year.
“When we have an opportunity to make a play, we have to
make a play,” Davis said. “It’s hard to be a
defense that’s on the field 70 or 80 plays. We can’t do
that no matter how athletic and fast we are.
“The offense is going to do what they’re going to
do. But if the other team doesn’t score, we’re going to
win.”
REFEREE INTERFERENCE: Contributing to
UCLA’s struggles was the questionable penalty calls by the
Pac-10 officials working the game. On one occasion, Verner was
called for pass interference in the end zone on a play where it
appeared he had nearly perfect coverage, putting his hands up at
the proper time to knock the ball back.
“The referees thought they saw something,” Verner
said. “I thought I had good coverage. Even a receiver came up
to me after the game and said I had good coverage.
“But you can’t blame the referees. (Defensive end
Justin) Hickman told me to just get back out there and make another
play.”
LIKELY REDSHIRTS: Wide receiver Joe Cowan and
cornerback Michael Norris, both out since the preseason with PCL
tears, are in all likelihood not going to play this year. Both will
apply for medical redshirts, according to coach Karl Dorrell. Cowan
practiced with the team on Tuesday in a no-tackle practice.
“He looks out of shape,” Dorrell said jokingly.
“He looks heavy. I told him he looks like a tight end right
now. Better watch it, we’ll be moving him down to a
three-point stance instead of a two-point stance.”
Dorrell also had a few words on the other injuries to the
team.
“For the most part, we’re in pretty good
health,” Dorrell said. “Other than you lost your
quarterback, one of your best tight ends. Lost a back. So
we’re in pretty good shape.”