The UCLA defense has its swagger back.
The Bruin defense returned to its dominant ways while
quarterback Pat Cowan threw for two touchdowns as UCLA broke a
four-game losing streak Saturday against Oregon State by the score
of 25-7, keeping the Bruins’ bowl hopes alive.
After a sluggish first half, the Bruins entered the locker room
down by one point, having scored just two field goals.
The game had all of the makings of another disappointing loss,
with the team suffering from poor execution and sloppy play ““
traits that have been the theme of this squad for the last
month.
However, the Bruins came out after halftime rejuvenated and
showed the 67,532 in attendance at the Rose Bowl that they were not
ready to let their season go to waste.
SLIDESHOW
Click here to see more photos from the game against Cal
Saturday.
“We have put everything behind us,” junior
linebacker Christian Taylor said. “The coaches talked about
this being a new season now with three games to go, so we just put
the past behind us.”
The Bruins (5-5, 3-4 Pac-10) set the tone for the rest of the
game on Oregon State’s (6-4, 4-3 Pac-10) first drive in the
third quarter, when the defense came up with a huge stop on
fourth-and-1 near the 50-yard line. On the very next play, Cowan
wasted no time as he hit wide out Marcus Everett in stride on a
45-yard deep ball to the end zone to put UCLA in the lead 13-7
““ a lead the Bruins would not give up.
“That was a big momentum-changer for us in the
game,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “We needed to take a
shot. We talked at halftime how we haven’t tested their
defense on any deep throws in the first half, and we wanted to come
out in the second half with a big play.”
From that point on, the defense took over, shutting out the
Beavers as it returned to its smothering ways of earlier in the
season. UCLA held the conference’s second-leading rusher,
Yvenson Bernard, to just 60 yards, recovered three fumbles, and
sacked quarterback Matt Moore five times, keeping bowl-bound Oregon
State 20 points below its season average.
“During the game, coach Walker was debating on what to
call,” junior defensive end Bruce Davis said. “And I
said, “˜You call whatever you want, coach. We have our swagger
back.’ We just all have our confidence back, and it is
evident on the field.”
While the defense picked up its intensity, the offense was
opened up quite a bit, looking much more aggressive in the second
half than it has in weeks past. The Bruins scored their second
touchdown of the game early on in the fourth quarter, on a
third-and-3 deep inside Oregon State territory. Instead of
conservatively going for the first down, Cowan rolled right and
instead found Everett once again in the back of the end zone.
“We hadn’t put together those kind of drives in the
second half in the last few games,” Cowan said. “We had
some tough games, but that was last season. Now we’re looking
forward to our new season that started tonight.”
Senior kicker Justin Medlock tacked on two more field goals to
seal the game for the Bruins, who are now just one win away from
becoming bowl-eligible, although they only have two games left on
their schedule: at Arizona State next week and then at home against
USC on Dec. 2.
Although the team knows each of these games will be pivotal
after experiencing such a long stretch without a victory, the
Bruins are just focused on maintaining the momentum built from
Saturday.
“A lot of people use the phrase “˜must-win,’
like this is a “˜must-win’ to make a bowl game or
whatnot,” Taylor said. “For us, we just have to come
out like it’s a new season. During the skid, guys never gave
up and kept driving and eventually, as you do that as a team, you
are going to come out on the other side. It feels great to get a
big win after so long.”