WASHINGTON ””mdash; The frozen playing surface at RFK Stadium was icy enough that Akeem Ayers slipped and fell as he rushed Temple’s quarterback.
But like a tumbling figure skater, the sophomore linebacker didn’t panic, recovering in time to intercept Vaughn Charlton’s pass and return it two yards to give the UCLA football team the go-ahead score in Tuesday’s 30-21 victory in the EagleBank Bowl.
“As soon as I got up, I was in a position to make a play to help the team out,” said Ayers, who was named the most valuable player in an on-field ceremony following the game.
In front of a mostly pro-Temple crowd of 23,072, the Bruins (7-6) won their first bowl game since the 2005 Sun Bowl. The Owls (9-4) were playing in their first bowl game in 30 years after winning the Mid-American Conference this season.
Perhaps fazed by the 19-degree wind-chill at game time, UCLA’s defense looked frozen when Temple took a 7-0 lead following an impressive 80-yard drive.
“Despite all the hard work by everybody to make sure that everything was perfect, the field had frozen over,” coach Rick Neuheisel said. “There was a lot of skating, like literally skating, on top of it.”
The next quarter, Temple running backs Bernard Pierce and Matt Brown each capitalized by crossing the goal line and handing Temple a 21-7 edge. The Bruins had come across the country only to be met by harsh conditions and a relentless Owl offense.
“I talked to the team early about two goals of a bowl game, the second of which is to have a great time,” Neuheisel said. “The first goal was to find a way to win the game. At 21-7, I didn’t know if I had made enough emphasis on the first goal.”
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince connected with sophomore receiver Nelson Rosario on the near sideline for what was, at that point, the 7-7 equalizer.
Redshirt junior place kicker Kai Forbath nailed a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut the deficit to 21-10.
“Temple was challenging our manhood,” sophomore defensive end Datone Jones said. “Our defense doesn’t get challenged like that too often. We just had to go out there with our swag.”
UCLA came out of the locker room looking like a completely different team. The Bruins finally seemed determined and acted as if they had something to play for.
The Bruin sideline did its best Temple impersonation by jumping up and down in unison as Prince braced himself for a crucial 4th-and-inches attempt at the tail end of the second-half’s opening drive. Prince, who was 16-of-31 for 221 yards, faked a handoff before rolling out to his right and tossing the ball to senior wide receiver Terrence Austin, who sped past a couple of defenders for a 32-yard score down the far sideline.
Just like that, the Bruins had hope.
UCLA followed the score with a stubborn stop inside its own 10-yard line that was reminiscent of the team’s game-winning defensive stand at Tennessee earlier in the season. Sophomore safety Rahim Moore grabbed his nation-leading 10th interception to put an end to another Temple drive.
“We were able to borough ourselves out of that hole, that ice rink down there,” Neuheisel said.
Forbath kicked another field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 21-20.
That set the stage for Ayers’ heroics.
Ayers lined up at the right defensive end position and looked to pass rush Charlton on a third-and-20.
“I was trying to get a good burst off the ball to get to the quarterback,” Ayers said. “As soon as I took off, I slipped.”
Charlton either did not see Ayers or thought he could sneak the ball past him. Ayers immediately bounced up, snatched the ball and took it two yards before being mobbed by his teammates in the end zone.
“We threw it short so we could get a catch and run and get something so we could punt it out of there,” Temple coach Al Golden said. “So for that to end up netting a touchdown for them is unimaginable.”
It was Ayers’ second interception for a touchdown of the season. On Oct. 10, he picked off Oregon’s Nate Costa on an acrobatic play in the end zone and dragged his feet to stay in bounds. When asked which of the two was more memorable, Ayers responded, “Both of them,” before Neuheisel interrupted him.
“”˜This one because we won the game’ is the right answer,” Neuheisel said.
Ayers also gained the praise of redshirt senior linebacker Reggie Carter, who sat alongside him at the press conference.
“Akeem is like my son here, so I’m definitely going to be watching him,” Carter said before Neuheisel budged in again.
“Little brother, maybe,” Neuheisel said.
“I hope he continues to make plays like that, because I’ll be watching,” Carter continued.
Following Ayers’ touchdown, a Prince-to-Rosario two-point conversion gave UCLA a seven-point lead. The Bruins added two more on a botched long snap to Temple senior punter Jake Brownell.
“I’m not going to lie ““ it was cold and I felt it,” Carter said. “But football is football. The field is still a 100 yards long. We fought hard. They ran the ball, we stuffed it and got the victory. You could never say we’re soft.”