Two weeks ago, it was fans chanting, “Fire Dorrell” in the southern end zone of the Rose Bowl after UCLA’s loss to Notre Dame.
Saturday, they triumphantly chanted “overrated” as the waning seconds ticked down in the Bruins’ 30-21 upset victory over No. 18 California (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10).
What a difference a win makes.
“Honestly, this is one of the biggest wins of my career,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “This is the second biggest win (after the USC victory last season). We had to get through them to stay undefeated in the Pac-10 and be first in the Pac-10. We overcame one, five more to go.”
Sealed with an interception returned for a touchdown by cornerback Alterraun Verner, the improbable win over Cal was just another example of a Pac-10 season where anything can, and will, happen.
And for a UCLA team (5-2, 4-0 Pac-10) that has had two bad losses to inferior teams this year, it was another example of the beauty of poor short-term memory.
“In order to be the type of team we’re trying to be, we have to move on,” cornerback Trey Brown said. “We lost against Notre Dame, but what can you do? You gotta fight back the next week against Cal.”
And fight the Bruins did.
They outgained the previously powerful Cal offense 373 yards to 299 thanks to a defensive effort that rendered the Bears’ rushing attack impotent. With running back Justin Forsett essentially neutralized for much of the game, it forced Cal’s quarterback Nate Longshore, who wasn’t totally healthy, into a position of having to win the game for the Bears on his own.
With a minute and a half to go in the game, he lost it.
On third-and-5 and down 23-21, Longshore lined his team up looking for a first down. His go-to receiver DeSean Jackson, who had nine catches for 136 yards on the day, was lined up in the slot, and everyone in the stadium knew where Longshore wanted to throw the ball.
Especially Verner.
Verner jumped in front of Longshore’s short pass to Jackson and returned it 76 yards for a touchdown.
“Oh yeah, we’ve seen that route a couple times in practice,” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “As a matter of fact, we watched it last night. We just happened to catch them in the right coverage, and he found the ball.
“I was like, “˜Hurry up, get to the end zone’ (when he caught the ball).”
That pick ““ and that game ““ puts UCLA in an interesting position. Despite scoring a combined 12 points and giving up a combined 64 in their losses to lightweights Utah and Notre Dame, the Bruins are in a position where if they can win five more games, they will do something that has not been done at UCLA since Karl Dorrell was hired: win the Pac-10. They must face No. 7 Arizona State and No. 5 Oregon at home before ending the year on the road against No. 9 USC.
“You know, unfortunately those two losses had to happen,” running back Kahlil Bell said. “But we’re still No. 1 in the Pac-10. I don’t think anyone in this locker room cares about what happened against Utah and Notre Dame. I mean, it’s disappointing, but at the same time, I don’t think anyone cares about it anymore.”
In the topsy-turvy world of the Pac-10, UCLA appears to have as good a shot as anyone at the conference title. The Bruins beat Stanford and Oregon State comfortably, and those two teams have victories over USC and Cal respectively. The Bears themselves have a road victory over Oregon that dealt the Ducks their only loss thus far this season. And USC struggled against Washington, a team that UCLA beat comfortably.
If you are a fan of the transitive property, you can see how the thinking follows after that.
But for the Bruins, it was not a game for looking ahead. UCLA got Pat Cowan back, and received a vintage Cowan performance ““ making plays out of nothing, hitting his short throws, and involving the tight ends. The Bruins got a great performance from their defense, which struggled against the Cal attack last year because they focused on stopping the pass, Walker said. And the Bruins ran the ball well, with 183 yards on 45 attempts.
So the Bruins enjoyed the win, and waited until later to worry about the implications.
“I’m going to feel good today, but tomorrow it’s going to be business as usual,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “When you have a victory like this, you enjoy it for a few hours and then it’s on to the next one.”