KNOXVILLE, Tenn. ““ The UCLA football team took yet another step toward regaining national prominence.
Holding a six-point lead but facing unfavorable odds, the Bruin defensive unit made a stand for the ages ““ stopping Tennessee on four straight plays near their own goal line ““ to escape with a thrilling, 19-15 victory in front of a nationally televised audience on Saturday afternoon.
The Volunteers reached the two-yard line and elected to rush the ball on fourth down. But a wall of UCLA defenders, led by redshirt senior linebackers Kyle Bosworth and Reggie Carter, were there to meet Volunteer tailback Montario Hardesty.
Suddenly, a capacity crowd of more than 100,000 that had been rowdy for much of the game was in disbelief. The two relatively small blue-colored seating sections located at the corners of Tennessee’s famed Neyland Stadium were the only ones making noise.
“We fight to the end,” junior defensive tackle Brian Price said. “We’re conquerors.”
Redshirt junior place kicker Kai Forbath had nailed three second-half field goals to hand the Bruins a two-possession lead. Then the Volunteers capped a methodical 17-play, 69-yard drive with a field goal of their own to cut the Bruin lead to six.
UCLA punted on its next possession and Tennessee was at it again.
The Volunteers reeled off nine more plays for 47 yards to set up a first-and-goal on the Bruins’ seven-yard line.
At that point, with Tennessee fans going wild, Carter remembered telling his teammates to play with their hearts.
“This is when you man up and play for each other,” he said. “Regardless of how tired you are, you have to step it up for one more play.”
What was going through UCLA first-year defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough’s mind?
“Stop ’em,” he said. “We preach all the time that they’re young and strong. (They) can go all day.”
The Bruins did just that on the fourth-and-two situation.
“When you’re on the two-yard line, you’ve got to expect to score,” Tennessee quarterback Jonathan Crompton said.
Second-year coach Rick Neuheisel, who in his first game last year led the Bruins to a dramatic, 27-24, overtime victory against Tennessee at the Rose Bowl, was astonished by his team’s resiliency.
“Rather than wallow, pity or complain, we just kept clawing,” Neuheisel said.
The Bruins got the ball back at their own one-yard line and ran the ball on two consecutive plays for minimal gain. Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince was then sacked in the end zone, giving the Volunteers a safety and trimming the UCLA lead to 19-15. Neuheisel wanted the safety so he could punt the ball away and bring his defense back on the field. The strategy put pressure on the Tennessee offense to drive the entire field, without any timeouts remaining, seeking a touchdown.
“There’s no question that’s where our experience lies,” Neuheisel said of the defense. “That’s where the heart and soul of the senior class lies.”
The defense answered the call again, sacking Crompton once and forcing him to throw three incompletions.
“We got outplayed today,” Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin said. “Credit to them. They did a great job traveling coast-to-coast.”
The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime tied at 10-10 after Forbath missed a last-second field goal attempt from 51 yards away. Forbath had been a perfect seven-for-seven in attempts of over 50 yards in his collegiate career.
“That was a stupid miss,” Forbath said as he walked off the field after the game.
Then he smiled and said, “This was unbelievable. This is huge ““ it shows the country we’re back.”
The Bruins made a statement with their first offensive drive, in which a well-executed running attack led the way in a 10-play, 51-yard drive. Forbath sealed it with a 26-yard field goal. Redshirt freshman tailback Johnathan Franklin, who finished with 80 yards rushing on 17 attempts, gained 29 yards on the ground in the opening drive.
“To do that on the first drive, it always builds some confidence,” Prince said.
The Volunteers took advantage of a pair of Bruin mental mistakes, capping a 13-play, 66-yard drive with game-tying field goal from Daniel Lincoln. During the drive, UCLA was penalized twice on third down. Senior Jerzy Siewierski drew an offside penalty on a third-and-six and redshirt senior Korey Bosworth was penalized 20 yards for pulling on Crompton’s facemask on a third-and-12.
Another UCLA mistake ““ a lost fumble by Prince ““ set Tennessee up with the ball at the Bruins’ 11-yard line. Hardesty promptly stormed into the end zone on the very next play to put Tennessee up 10-3.
“Offensively we were uncomfortable for a little bit,” Neuheisel said. “It was obvious Kevin was uncomfortable in the noise.”
Siewierski bounced back by recovering a fumble in the second quarter, setting the Bruins up with a short field. Prince rolled out to his right and threw a touchdown pass to senior fullback Chane Moline to tie the game at 10-10.
Sophomore safety Rahim Moore, who had three interceptions in last week’s 33-14 victory over San Diego State, had two more Saturday. Senior Alterraun Verner had one as well.
“This was the biggest crowd in the biggest stadium that we’ve ever played,” Verner said. “To hear them all in silence was good. That’s what we’ve been talking about.”
“You remember these for a lifetime,” Neuheisel said.
The Bruins look to improve to 3-0 next Saturday against Kansas State in Pasadena. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m.