All week the UCLA offense and defense worked on third-down plays.
The team couldn’t afford another performance like last week’s against Fresno State, when the offense converted just two of 12 third-down tries and the Bruin defense allowed the Bulldogs to convert six of their 14 attempts.
The week of practice and the coaches’ emphasis showed in UCLA’s methodical, 28-3 win over Washington State on Saturday at the Rose Bowl; this time it was the Bruins who dominated third-down situations. The Cougars were 2-for-12 on third down and UCLA finished at 9-for-18.
“It wasn’t beautiful in terms of the execution, but there were some real bright spots especially on third down,” coach Rick Neuheisel said. “I thought both sides executed a lot better on third down, which is the product of a lot of labor. And you can take something from that, in terms of achieving what we emphasized.”
Quarterback Kevin Craft was excellent under pressure, especially on third down. He completed 7 of his 11 pass attempts on third down (64 percent).
The UCLA defense managed to prevent Marshall Lobbestael, Washington State’s redshirt freshman quarterback, from establishing that type of rhythm. Lobbestael made his biggest mistakes on third down; first he was sacked by UCLA defensive tackle Brigham Harwell, then he threw an interception to UCLA corner Alterraun Verner.
“It’s something we’ve got to emphasize each and every week,” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “It was a little disturbing (against Fresno State). We might even need to emphasize it more, to see what we can change up to get us off the field.”
It seemed like the success and gratification on Saturday allowed UCLA to finally look forward. It doesn’t erase the wounds inflicted during the second half of September, when the Bruins lost three consecutive games to BYU, Arizona and Fresno State, but it at least let them to move ahead with some confidence in their execution and scheme.
“Guys are still hungry,” quarterback Kevin Craft said. “It’s nice to get this win; we’re going to enjoy it, but at the same time, it’s the next step. We took a step against Fresno State, and I think we took another big step tonight.”
The Bruins were satisfied with the win, but the overwhelming sentiment after the game was that the team still can still get a lot better before they face their biggest Pac-10 tests in the next few weeks.
“It’s big to get this win, but we need to keep plugging away,” tight end Ryan Moya said. “The coaches have been on us to improve in practice every day. Hopefully everyone is buying into that.”
Walker said that the third-down defense, which was the key to Saturday’s victory, will be a crucial factor again next week, when the Bruins travel to face Oregon.
“No question it will be our toughest game yet this season,” Walker said. “This was a good win, but we’re going to have our hands full next week.”
MARVELOUS MOYA: Tight end Ryan Moya delivered another brilliant performance in Saturday’s win. He finished his day with six catches, 57 yards and two touchdowns.
Moya has been an important target for quarterback Kevin Craft in each of the Bruins’ two victories so far this season. In the Bruins’ first win against Tennessee, Moya caught seven passes and finished with 65 yards. On Saturday, Craft was able to find Moya in single coverage often as the Washington State defense crowded the line of scrimmage.
Moya did not play last season and started this year as the Bruins’ backup. After starter Logan Paulsen suffered a foot injury, Moya was thrust into an important role on the Bruin offense. Moya has caught 22 passes so far this season, whereas Paulsen caught only 12 passes all of last season.
Moya said he didn’t know if Saturday was his best game ever; he never really thinks of it that way.
“I’m just trying to have a good season, for our team,” he said.
ALMOST HISTORIC: Washington State has now played 279 straight games without being shut out. That streak ““ which dates back to the Cougars’ 44-0 loss to Ohio State on September 18, 1984 ““ was nearly snapped Saturday. Washington State scored just three points on a Nico Grasu field goal kick.
That kick was 47-yards, and UCLA defensive tackle Brian Price nearly blocked it after he stormed through the Washington State offensive line.
BRUINS LOVE LOS ANGELES: With just over two minutes remaining in UCLA’s game, the final score of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball game was announced over the Rose Bowl PA system. The Dodgers won 3-1 against the Chicago Cubs to clinch their first playoff series win since 1988. A huge ovation from the crowd of 65,469 partisans followed the announcement.