PULLMAN, Wash. “”mdash; Saturday was supposed to be a fight for
supremacy in the Pac-10. It was supposed to be a game featuring two
of the conference leaders. But by the end, Saturday’s game
had degenerated to something comparable to a high school game, and
lacked any resemblance to a contest between two Rose Bowl
hopefuls.
But although both Washington State and UCLA struggled mightily
““ they combined for 14 turnovers ““ the Cougars took the
lead in the Pac-10 while the Bruins left embarrassed and speechless
after they were destroyed 31-13.
With seven turnovers each, both teams showed unparalleled
offensive clumsiness. The only difference was that the Cougars
demonstrated an ability to score touchdowns off UCLA’s
mistakes, while the Bruins were incapacitated by their faults.
“It was a joke,” receiver Ryan Smith said.
“You turn around and the other team has the ball. I
don’t know what to say.
“It was the ugliest football game I’ve ever been
involved in. Both sides. Our defense was awesome and we let them
down today. Special teams and the offense, we let them down. And it
doesn’t feel good.”
Although UCLA’s defense grabbed three interceptions and
forced four fumbles, the offense was unable to hold on to the ball
long enough to convert those turnovers into points. The Bruins only
managed two field goals off turnovers, while the Cougars scored 14
points from two of UCLA’s four lost fumbles.
The Bruins’ offensive woes started early in the game.
Already trailing 7-0, UCLA fell into a deeper hole in its first
play on its next possession. Freshman running back Maurice Drew
fumbled the ball, setting Washington State up at the UCLA 35-yard
line. Quarterback Matt Kegel then threw a 32-yard pass to Troy
Bienemann to give the Cougars a 14-0 lead.
Even after senior defensive end Dave Ball hit Kegel late in the
first quarter, forcing him to leave the game with a sprained right
shoulder, the Bruins could not take advantage. Though backup Josh
Swogger was only 5-of-16 with two interceptions for the game,
turnovers, and a fumbled punt return by junior Craig Bragg near the
end of the second quarter, led to a 72-yard Cougar return, and in
turn, another Cougar touchdown. They tacked on another score to
make the halftime score 28-6.
Washington State was led by senior running back Jonathan Smith,
who had three touchdowns and rushed for 130 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Moore had another tough game,
completing only 11-of-29 passes, with two interceptions. He was
also sacked four times, one of which led to another lost fumble
early in the third quarter. He did complete one pass for a
touchdown, throwing a 34-yard strike to Bragg with eight minutes
left in the third quarter.
“Here they are giving the ball to us seven times, and we
just give it back to them seven times,” Moore said. “If
we had taken care of those situations we would have won the
game.”
In a similar scenario to last weekend’s loss at Stanford,
coach Karl Dorrell brought in backup quarterback Drew Olson to help
spark the offense, after Moore’s troubles in the first three
quarters. But Olson also threw an interception late in the game,
sealing any hopes of a miracle 18-point comeback. The change of
quarterbacks was no indication of a more permanent change up, as
Dorrell insisted Moore still has the starting job.
Olson’s interception only helped top off the high turnover
rate. Toward the end of the third quarter, the night’s
troubles for both teams were highlighted when five of six drives
ended in turnovers. It started with an interception by Matt
Ware, followed by another fumble by Drew. A Jarrad Page
interception led only to an intercepted pass thrown by Moore, and
Moore threw another interception the following possession.
“I would be running up to the sideline, taking off my
helmet and before you know it, I’m back on the field,”
defensive end David Tautofi said. “It was
horrible.”
“The defense did a nice job giving us some opportunities,
and we couldn’t capitalize,” Dorrell added. “In a
nut shell that’s what it came down to ““Â we
didn’t do the jobs we were supposed to do.”
Now, with another loss in conference play, the Bruins’
hope for a trip to the Rose Bowl are all but dashed, and they have
also severely hampered their chances for a solid bowl game. Odds
are they will now take a New Year’s trip to El Paso for the
Sun Bowl, or possibly the Insight.com Bowl in Phoenix, if they make
a bowl game at all.
But worse in the minds of most, is the possibility of another
heartbreaking end to a season that once had hopes of a Pac-10
championship.
“We got so much heart on this team, and we’ve got
way too many senior leaders on this team to go down,” Smith
said. “We’ve got Oregon which we owe for the last two
years, then USC. We want to go to the best bowl game as possible,
and not go out as chumps.”