WASHINGTON “”mdash; UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel, his jacket still wet from the Gatorade bath he received from his players, stood at midfield at RFK Stadium thanking the city of Washington, D.C.
Various Bruin players walked toward the stands to shake hands with the UCLA fans that braved the below-freezing temperatures to watch the team.
Rahim Moore gave Akeem Ayers, who was clutching his EagleBank Bowl MVP trophy in is left hand, a giant hug, repeating how proud he was of him.
This was the scene following the Bruins’ 30-21 victory over Temple in the second annual EagleBank Bowl before an announced crowd of 23,072 at frigid RFK Stadium.
It was a scene characterized by joy and relief from the team’s first bowl win since the 2005 Sun Bowl against Northwestern.
Yet it was a moment that a month earlier seemed would never happen.
On Oct. 31, the Bruins lost to Oregon State, 26-19, in Corvallis, Ore., marking the team’s fifth consecutive loss and dropping its record to 3-5.
With just four games remaining in the season and zero Pac-10 wins up to that point, a bowl berth seemed like a pipe-dream for the Bruins.
However, amid the disappointment of another loss was a sign that, looking back on it, Bruin players felt turned their season around.
Down 19-3 to Oregon State midway through the fourth quarter, the Bruins scored two touchdowns and converted a pair of two-point conversions in a little more than six minutes to tie the game with 2:06 remaining.
While the Beavers would emerge with a victory, the Bruins believe that the offense awakened in that second half and played a large part in the Bruins winning three of their last four games to become bowl-eligible.
“That Oregon State game showed what we were capable of on offense, what we should be doing every play,” freshman left tackle Xavier Su’a-Filo said. “Doing that, that just revealed to me and to us that the rest of our team ““ that’s how we can be all the time. I think today we really showed that.”
Senior cornerback Alterraun Verner noticed something in particular emerge in the offense that previously had been absent: a vertical passing game.
In that game, redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Prince completed 22 of 34 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came in the fourth quarter.
“I think it was a big offensive awakening for us because they started to make plays vertically and that was tremendous for us,” Verner said. “And then defense, we just had to re-tune things, and that’s how we got together.”
Senior running back Chane Moline, who became a larger factor in the UCLA offense late in the season, believes that more than anything else it was a confidence booster for the Bruins.
“After that, I think we knew that we could put up points at will, and we just went out there and tried to execute as best we can,” Moline said. “I think that was a turning point in our season ““ when we shifted our losing streak.”
Despite the good feelings around what many saw as an offensive awakening, the end result was still a UCLA defeat that put the Bruins in a precarious position. As much as he wanted to admit that the team’s confidence never wavered, Verner acknowledged that it was a tough time for the Bruins.
“I mean some of those games that we played, we were close or we were in,” Verner said. “Like the Oregon State game, we came back, fought hard. In Oregon, we were in until they made those big plays, so I wasn’t discouraged at all when we were losing those games because it’s not like we were getting blown out every single one of those games. I wouldn’t say that I’m surprised, but at that point it was a little gray.”
For Ayers, there was a sense of confidence present in the players because they all believed they could play better than they were.
“We know we’re still capable of winning games, and can much better than we had when we were losing,” Ayers said. “So everyone still knew that we were able to get a bowl game, just try to win out, hope that a couple of things happen. And once we got in, we appreciated everyone here and ready to play.”
And to think that it all started with a game at the end of October.
“That just springboarded us into not only getting into a bowl, but having the confidence to win the bowl game,” sophomore left guard Jeff Baca said.
PRICE, SU’A-FILO WILL NOT RETURN NEXT SEASON: According to reports, junior defensive tackle Brian Price will enter the NFL Draft and freshman offensive tackle Xavier Su’a-Filo will begin a two-year Mormon mission.
Price, named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year, finished the season with 48 tackles, 23.5 tackles for loss, and seven sacks. He is projected to be a first-round draft pick in April’s draft.
Su’a-Filo started all 13 games for the Bruins at left tackle this season as a true freshman.
“As long as Coach Neuheisel is at UCLA, then I’m a Bruin,” Su’a-Filo told the Los Angeles Times.