FOOTBALL Saturday, 7:15 p.m. v. Arizona State
Tempe, Ariz.
If Tempe is anything for the Bruins, one would think it would be
a city of nightmares.
UCLA’s last two trips to Arizona State have been marked by
fourth-quarter blowups for the Bruins. Most recently, in 2004, the
Bruins lost an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter when Sun Devils
quarterback Andrew Walter led ASU to 17 unanswered points, beating
the Bruins 48-42.
The memories of that game from two years ago are not lost on the
UCLA upperclassmen.
“It was a great game, a high-scoring game,” wide
receiver Junior Taylor said. “We just had too many turnovers.
That one hurt bad, that game hurt bad. We made too many mistakes
and couldn’t capitalize on the great things we did in the
game.”
In that game, former UCLA quarterback Drew Olson threw two
touchdowns but also had four interceptions. Taylor and the Bruins
know they cannot afford that type of sloppy play this week in the
hostile road atmosphere.
“We’ve got to make sure we execute the whole
game,” Taylor said. “They’ve got a great stadium
to play in. Their student section is very loud, and they’ve
got great fans.”
The Bruins will have extra motivation for this game because a
win will give them the minimum number of wins needed to become
bowl-eligible. Also of importance for the Bruins is the need to
build momentum for the USC game on Dec. 2.
“It’s really important (to get this win),”
center Robert Chai said. “If we get this win, it’ll
help us for ‘SC week. It’ll give us some momentum and
it’ll give us a bowl game. (The seniors) want to finish our
careers with a winning streak, on a winning note. It’s
important to all of us seniors.”
The Bruins will likely need to sweep through their last two
games to ensure a bowl game simply because there are so many teams
in the middle of the pack this year in the Pac-10 conference.
Still, they are simply focused on the task at hand, realizing
that the only way to have a shot at winning two games in a row is
to win the first one.
“I haven’t really looked at (the standings)
much,” linebacker Christian Taylor said. “I don’t
necessarily look too much into the bowl system. I think it’s
a pretty screwed-up system. We should have playoffs. (But) we want
to win these last two games. We want to get to the best bowl we
can.”
The Bruins will first have to go through the Sun Devils, who,
although they have underachieved this year, possess a lot of
offensive weapons that will provide some tough matchups for the
Bruins’ defense.
ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter is coming off one of his best
games of the year ““ the rout of Washington State last weekend
““ in which he threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns. But
the Bruins are not worried about facing another high-powered
offense; this year, it feels like they have faced nothing but
high-powered offenses.
“It’s just the Pac-10, man,” redshirt junior
Christian Taylor said. “Every offense is good. We just have
to find out what they like to do and then stop it.”
Although ASU is typically known for its high-powered passing
offense, the rushing offense has been the strength of the team this
year. The Sun Devils rank second in the Pac-10 in rushing at 167.6
yards per game, led by junior running back Ryan Torain. The
Bruins’ Pac-10 No. 1 rushing defense will be faced with a
great challenge this week.
All the same, the Bruins will need no more motivation than the
game two years ago, when they came into Tempe looking to upset the
then-No. 21 Sun Devils and came out heartbroken.
“Towards the end of the third quarter, we thought we were
going to win,” Chai said. “We should have won that
game. We should have come out of there with a W. That game left a
bitter taste.
“We want to go in there and get a win.”