I’ve really got to hand it to the Bruins. You guys came
out to the L.A. Coliseum and showed some real heart and desire in
the face of certain defeat on Saturday.
Well, at least the Bruins in the student section did anyway.
Since the good people at Southern Cal weren’t able to
provide yours truly with a media credential, I was able to cover
UCLA’s 47-22 loss in the stands. And let me tell you, the
view from Section 16, Row 73, Seat 101 wasn’t any prettier
than it would have been in the press box.
With that said, Dorrell’s Den was anything but as quiet as
its namesake. The fans actually cheered and cheered after venturing
into South Central and paying some $70 to park their cars just to
watch their favorite 20-point underdog team play.
Then common sense kicked in. Check that. It was forced down our
throats.
Never have I seen a game in which there was never one second
during which I thought the outcome was in question. By halftime,
UCLA had scored just one point for every finger a USC fan would wag
in my face.
With UCLA refusing to jam Trojan wide receiver Mike Williams or
put cornerback Matt Ware on him all day, the sophomore ran all over
the Bruins with 11 receptions for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
After the game, Williams ran his mouth.
“Everybody who came here in baby blue wishes they were in
our student section,” he said.
Geez, thanks for the invite, soldier. But you must be as deaf as
you are dumb because I heard your quarterback’s wrist snap
just fine from where I was sitting.
No. 2 USC has more important things to worry about, like playing
in the national championship game. With Ohio State falling to
Michigan, the Trojans will almost certainly move up in the Bowl
Championship Series standings with a win next week against Oregon
State.
With Washington, a team that knows how to upset its rival,
beating Washington State, UCLA will be lucky to be offered an
invitation to play in a lower-tier bowl. Do you know the way to San
Jose?
Game balls do go out to some Bruins on the field. Freshman
Maurice Drew refused to get down after fumbling or go down quietly
with his 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth.
Sophomore Marcedes Lewis also made the most heroic play
I’ve seen all season, racing some 90 yards to stop Shaun Cody
from scoring on a PAT return to confirm that UCLA is actually
better than USC in the PAT return.
Quarterback Drew Olson also performed admirably considering he
had an offensive line that could neither pass protect nor run
block.
As for the seniors who will never know what it feels like to
beat USC, boo-hoo. You guys had your four or five chances to beat
the Trojans, and not one of you stepped up to make a play before
the game was out of reach. I’m a senior too, thanks for
representing.
This game was the culmination of a season that started out with
a new head coach and so much hope. It was thought that Karl Dorrell
would end the era of mediocrity with a team that played
fundamentally sound football and won when it counted.
But these were the same old Bruins, who had yet another November
nosedive and never seemed to put up much of a whimper against their
rivals until after the game.
Then again, a “We beat Cal” chant did emanate from
the student section.
I guess bravado was about the only thing the Bruins could muster
up across town.
Leung was a football beat writer in 2002. He can be reached
at dleung@media.ucla.edu.