Hope. Is it a good thing, or a dangerous thing?
On the opening drive of Saturday’s Battle for the Victory Bell against USC, UCLA went an all too familiar three-and-out, then followed it up with the team’s best offensive play of the season: an Aaron Perez punt.
The strategy worked.
Brian Price forced a fumble and suddenly the Bruins passion-bucket was overflowing with hope.
Then, with just over 11 minutes to play in the first quarter, wide receiver Dominique Johnson caught a backwards pass and quickly looked to throw. What trickeration!
Tailback Kahlil Bell streaked out of the backfield and appeared to be open. Johnson lofted a tantalizing spiral toward Bell, the ball hanging long enough for USC’s stud safety Taylor Mays to track it down and leap in to make a play.
Only Bell leaped higher.
The 6-foot senior made like Randy Moss, snatched the ball out of the air, and glided into the end zone.
A Hollywood opening in Pasadena.
And for the briefest of moments, everyone in powder blue filled the Rose Bowl with a glimmer of hope. Could UCLA really win this game? Could lighting strike twice in three years?
But false hope can lead to delusions and painful letdowns.
When USC missed a field goal on its ensuing drive, the hope momentarily remained.
It then quickly faded away.
When USC effortlessly converted on a fourth-down and four, a touch of reality set in. Two plays later, the Trojans tied the game. After another UCLA three-and-out, USC marched 60 yards in four plays with video-game precision and never looked back.
The Bruins hung around on the scoreboard for a while. A 14-7 halftime score seemed plausible until a debilitating roughing the punter penalty extended USC’s third scoring drive. But the pendulum of momentum had already swung toward the Men of Troy.
UCLA managed one first down in the first half, on a USC offside penalty, no less. The Trojan touchdown before the half slammed the proverbial door shut. At 21-7, the Jell-O was jiggling.
The final score of 28-7 was not indicative of how dominant USC was. UCLA’s defense put forth a valiant effort, but the Trojans accrued 478 total yards and 33 first downs. The Bruins finished with a meager 157 yards of offense and seven first downs.
At least UCLA covered the 33-point spread.
So the football monopoly is still soundly intact for another season in Los Angeles. This was the first eight-loss season in Westwood since 1963, and USC capped its seventh consecutive season with at least 11 wins.
But hope should not disappear. There is good reason to be optimistic for next year, when the team will be bigger, stronger and faster. They return notable key players, add a solid recruiting class and will have another year in coach Rick Neuheisel’s system.
As Andy Dufresne says in The Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.”
Hope for next year.
If you are hopeful UCLA will double its win total next season, e-mail Taylor at btaylor@media.ucla.edu.