The game was already decided when UCLA recovered an Arizona State fumble with less than two minutes to play.
But watching the way junior defensive tackle Brian Price emerged from the pile, the Bruins may just as well have locked up a BCS Championship victory.
Out from under the scrum, Price started spinning in jubilation, his right arm thrust into the air in triumph as he pranced across the field toward the sideline.
It was a fairly mundane game, a defensive struggle, and just the sixth win for the Bruins this year.
But as coach Rick Neuheisel said after the game, “No. 6 was magic.”
Perhaps then, Price had reason to celebrate like a maniac. UCLA’s win on Saturday made the team bowl eligible ““ a major team goal set before the season began.
“It was great,” a subdued Price said in the locker room after the game. “It was a big game for us. Everybody was focused and ready to play.”
While many fans were dissatisfied with six wins under former coach Karl Dorrell, six wins now seems like progress in Neuheisel’s second year. Six wins is two more than the team had last season, and the proverbial pantry is full of young talent despite being empty and full of dust when Dorrell was fired in 2007.
Needless to say, goals change.
“When you go through a barrier, hopefully that makes the next one that much easier,” Neuheisel said of becoming bowl-eligible with six wins. “Obviously to have some success next week would be another barrier to go through.”
The win against Arizona State does technically make UCLA bowl-eligible, but it does not guarantee a bowl berth. While the mathematical scenarios are endless, the Bruins’ best shot at the postseason likely lies in getting an at-large invitation to a non-conference bowl. The New Mexico Bowl and the Roady’s Humanitarian Bowl in Boise, Idaho are reported to be interested.
A win against USC next week would virtually guarantee an at-large bid, and also make an invitation to some of the conference bowls that much more realistic.
None of that is lost on Neuheisel.
“We still have a chance to get to seven,” he said. “And that’s our goal.”
“Mr. Dependable”
The UCLA coaches may have finally found the right way to utilize their plethora of talented running backs: Use the fullback and let everyone else watch from the sidelines because the fullback doesn’t fumble.
One week after having a career day with three touchdowns against Washington State, coaches went back to senior Chane Moline giving him the starting nod and 25 carries against a staunch Sun Devil front seven.
And unlike some of the other Bruin runners, Moline didn’t fumble once.
“(He’s) Mr. Dependable,” redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince said. “He’s just a solid runner. You can trust him to hold onto the ball.”
Moline averaged only 3.4 yards per carry against Arizona State, but that was enough considering the type of defensive battle the game was bound to be.
“We knew we weren’t going to get a lot of points, and we didn’t want to do anything stupid that would prevent us from (winning),” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said.
After the Bruins got up by 13 early, thanks in large part to two defensive touchdowns, Neuheisel said the team played more “close to vest” to protect the lead.
Moline and his dependability fit perfectly into that plan. Sophomore Derrick Coleman was the only other Bruin running back to tally a rush for UCLA ““ and he only got two carries.
“Obviously I pride myself in (being reliable) because I’m not the fastest, strongest athlete around,” Moline said. “Obviously I have to use my vision, break some tackles, fall forward and try to carry a few guys.”
QUICK HITS: Prince was helped off the field after taking a hit and landing on his side with 1:09 remaining in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Craft relieved Prince to finish the quarter, but Prince reentered the game when the fourth quarter began. He said after the game that his leg had locked, but that stretches fixed the problem. “¦ Senior cornerback Alterraun Verner’s interception return for a touchdown was his fourth, a new UCLA record. “¦ UCLA recovered five Arizona State fumbles, the most since 1998.