BERKELEY “”mdash; After a 17-12 loss to the Cal Bears, John
Sciarra just wanted to know if he could take a shower.
It was that kind of a day for UCLA.
Instead, the third-string quarterback was shoved onto a narrow
stairwell to face the media after being pushed into the game when
UCLA’s starting quarterback and backup both went down with
injuries. Although he looked as doe-eyed in the spotlight as he did
when he first took the field, Sciarra opened his mouth before
anyone could ask a question.
“The first thing I just want to say is that the defense
played unbelievably. The coaching staff did a great job. A lot of
our offensive guys did really well too,” he said.
Sciarra finished the game 1-of-7, which was about all you could
expect from a redshirt freshman who has only taken “mental
reps” this season.
Although he saw a few snaps at the end of the San Diego State
blowout, Saturday was his first real collegiate game experience. He
was sacked on his second snap and fumbled the ball after calling a
pass play when he was supposed to call a run.
“It was just a total miscommunication. It’s really
hard to explain. I could take the next 20 minutes to explain it to
you but the fact was I messed up. I should have fixed it,”
Sciarra said.
Although Sciarra sustained several drives, bringing the Bruins
as close as the Cal two-yard line, they could not capitalize on any
of them.
“I wish I could have contributed more to the team than I
did tonight,” he said.
On the first series of the second half, starting quarterback
Cory Paus audibled and completed a 28-yard pass to sophomore wide
receiver Craig Bragg for a first down on the Cal 20. But Paus, who
finished 10-of-15 for 129 yards, was then carted off the field with
a broken ankle, screaming, “Get it in the end zone!
Score!”
His backup, Drew Olson, helped the Bruins do just that as later
in the drive Tyler Ebell took a handoff 11 yards into the endzone
to tie the game at 10. But in a bizarre turn of events, the Bruins
lost their second-string quarterback as well.
“He threw a couple nice balls then all of a sudden he went
down,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.
Olson separated his shoulder at the end of the third quarter. He
finished 5-of-7 for 58 yards and would have had more if a touchdown
pass to senior tight end Mike Seidman had not been wiped out by a
holding penalty.
“I felt like this is my game and my town, let’s
go,” said Olson, a graduate of Piedmont High ““ about 20
minutes from Memorial Stadium.
“It’s bad luck or football. It’s
football.”
Beyond Saturday’s loss, the injuries have implications for
the rest of the season. Paus is lost for the season and
Olson’s status for the coming week and beyond is
uncertain.
“I’ve got to sit down and think,” Toledo said.
“I might have to use (freshman quarterback Matt)
Moore’s redshirt year, I’m not sure. I don’t want
to do that.”
An emotional Paus wasn’t ready to sit down and think.
“I was just so pissed. Really mad and mad because I was
ready to go. Then Drew Olson gets knocked out of the game, what the
hell? That is not the way you draw it up,” Paus said.
“This is going to put our team in a big bind.”
Time to take a shower.