All season long, the Bruins have been relying on their defense
to win games, and Saturday’s game against the vaunted USC
offense was no different.
The Bruins have been mostly tenacious on defense all season, but
saved their best game for the Trojans, putting the clamps on one of
the nation’s most potent offenses at crucial junctures of the
game.
UCLA held USC to just seven offensive points ““ the
Trojans’ lowest output since 2001, breaking their streak of
64 consecutive games scoring 20 points or more.
“We did not anticipate having that much of a
problem,” USC coach Pete Carroll said.
The defensive line set the tone early on, stopping a
fourth-and-short attempt in the first quarter deep in Bruin
territory.
From that point on, it was clear UCLA was not going to give the
USC offense any slack.
“They were probably worrying about the national
championship for one,” defensive end Bruce Davis said.
“And two, I think they underestimated us because everyone
kept saying that our defensive front is small and our linebackers
are small, and they thought they were going to come in here and run
over us. But we had another thing coming for them today.”
Davis led a bevy of Bruins who swarmed to the ball on every
occasion as they kept USC quarterback John David Booty on his heels
all day, muscling past the talented USC offensive line time after
time and bringing pressure from all over.
USC also had trouble establishing a ground game.
The Trojans’ stable of talented running backs, led by
freshman C.J. Gable, accumulated a season-low 55 yards rushing.
With the running game in check and five false-start penalties,
the Trojans were forced into several long-yardage situations and
converted just six of 17 third downs.
“They didn’t realize how fast we were, and we were
just bringing heat the whole day,” Davis said. “We were
in Booty’s face all night and we just wanted it more than
they did.”
Although the Trojans did rack up 329 yards of total offense, the
Bruin defense bent on several occasions but did not break, coming
up with big plays at key moments late in the contest.
To start the fourth quarter, USC looked determined to get on the
board for the first time in the second half, but came up short on
every possession.
On the Trojans’ first drive in the final frame, they were
once again stopped on a fourth-and-short play, with Davis stopping
Gable to force USC’s second turnover on downs.
However, the defense would save its biggest stand for the end of
the game.
Before USC started its final drive from its own 20, a time-out
was taken and the Trojan players all came onto the field, taunting
the UCLA sideline, which was also getting prepped on the field.
That stunt may have cost USC the game, as it fired up an already
hungry Bruin defense even more.
“They were talking trash to us and their sideline came on
the field and we got hyped up; that was a bad idea on their
part,” linebacker Christian Taylor said.
“You don’t jump on our field; they can go back to
‘SC where they belong. We beat them today; we beat them on
our field. I’m not afraid to say it: They didn’t give
us the game, we beat them straight up,” Taylor said.
With the score at 13-9, USC marched down the field and into
striking distance, but senior Eric McNeal virtually sealed the
victory with an athletic tip and interception of a Booty pass
attempt.
Although the UCLA defense had been successful all season long,
the players did not feel they were getting the level of respect
they deserved. But after Saturday, it is clear the Bruin defense is
for real.
“A couple of them made a couple comments like, “˜You
are too small’ when we were out on the field, and, you know,
that’s fine,” defensive end Bruce Davis said.
“I’m big enough to knock Booty on the
ground.”