PASADENA “”mdash; All the Bruins needed was a spark.
In search of someone to light a fire under its stagnant offense,
UCLA turned to running back Maurice Drew.
The highly touted freshman torched the Arizona State defense for
176 rushing yards as the red-hot Bruins won their fifth in a row,
defeating the Sun Devils, 20-13 in front of 61,778 at the Rose
Bowl.
“He was the hot back this game,” running backs coach
Eric Bieniemy said. “He was on fire, and there was nothing
Arizona State could do to cool him down.”
Drew’s performance helped UCLA (6-2, 4-0) remain in a
first-place tie with Washington State atop the Pac-10. With a
considerably more difficult second-half schedule awaiting them, it
was crucial for the Bruins to remain undefeated in conference
play.
“Every win is so huge,” sophomore strong safety
Jarrad Page said. “There isn’t a single player on this
team who now can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We’re within reach of a Rose Bowl, and we were lucky enough
to have Drew pick us up.”
With starting fullback Manny White sidelined with a broken right
clavicle, Drew got the chance to make an impact early in the third
quarter.
UCLA trailed 13-10 when Drew went off-tackle untouched and burst
up the left sideline. He outran the Sun Devil defenders in a race
to the end zone, an 83-yard dash that set the record for longest
run by a true freshman in Bruin history.
“I just wanted to get our team juiced,” Drew said.
“We needed a turning point, and I found that hole and used my
speed to get away. That’s why I’m here ““ to make
the big play.”
UCLA would add a 44-yard field goal early in the fourth to push
the lead to 20-13, and that was all the offense would need.
For the third time this season, the UCLA defense tossed a
second-half shutout, partly as a result of a blitz package that
camouflaged the source of the attack, and mainly because Arizona
State star quarterback Andrew Walter went down with a high ankle
sprain early in the second quarter.
That injury forced true freshman backup Sam Keller to get into
the mix. Keller threw for only 51 second-half yards, and at times
looked lost in the face of constant pressure.
“Their defense started bluffing on their blitzes, and it
did a good job of rattling Keller,” ASU coach Dirk Koetter
said.
But although Keller struggled, it was UCLA quarterback Matt
Moore who nearly made the game’s critical mistake.
Holding a tenuous 17-13 lead late in the third quarter, Moore
threw an interception as he was being hit, giving the Sun Devils
the ball at the UCLA 35. However, Arizona State running back Loren
Wade gave it right back to the Bruins on the ensuing play when
middle linebacker Justin London both forced and recovered a
fumble.
“It was a big turning point,” Koetter said.
“We had a chance to take the lead. We had a nice hole, but
London reached out and stuck his hand out there.”
Entering the game, the talk centered on the return of Moore.
UCLA did pass the ball more than usual and took several shots
downfield. However, most of those plays came in the first half, as
UCLA turned to Drew in the second half when it became apparent
Arizona State couldn’t stop him. Moore finished with 190
passing yards, all but four of which came in the first half.
“He was rusty,” UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell said.
“We knew he wasn’t going to be flawless back there, but
it was good seeing him back in there.”
Moore’s return got off to a good start, with a 52-yard
completion on a screen pass to wide receiver Craig Bragg that
helped set up a UCLA field goal. Moore again connected with Bragg
later in the first quarter, this time for an acrobatic 25-yard
touchdown that gave the Bruins a 10-3 lead.
But this was Drew’s night. Although the Arizona State
defense had to be expecting him to get the ball, Drew was still
able to make significant gains, juking and jiving and forcing
missed tackles. He showed the fans at Rose Bowl why his teammates
call him the Human Pinball, picking up the Bruins’ two final
first downs and effectively sealing the victory.