STILLWATER, Okla. – Ricky Manning Jr. was feeling sick to his
stomach. UCLA’s senior All-Pac-10 cornerback was cramping up
all night and would lay down on the sidelines between series,
trying to catch his breath.
"I felt like I was about to die," Manning said.
It was understandable after lining up against speedy Oklahoma
State All-Big 12 wide receiver Rashaun Woods play after play in
UCLA’s 38-24 road win on Saturday. The pass-happy Cowboy
offense desperately wanted to get the ball into the hands of its
top weapon and went right after the heart and soul of the Bruin
defense to do so.
Manning lived to tell about it.
"(Woods) goes and gets that ball," he said. "He’s a good
receiver, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to tear up the
Big 12."
In the match-up between All-American candidates, Woods, a
6-foot-2-inch junior, caught seven passes for a game-high 143 yards
and seven-yard touchdown in which he out-jumped his 5-foot-9-inch
counterpart. Manning, meanwhile, was flagged for four pass
interference penalties, three of which were enforced.
"That’s bull crap, man," Manning said. "I guess
that’s the way it is when you’re a smaller defensive
back and you’re going up against a taller receiver. The
referees kind of expect pass interference."
"They were putting the ball up for grabs, and we had too many
pass interference penalties," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.
"(Woods) is a heck of receiver. Luckily, we don’t play too
many like him."
Manning, on the other hand, wasn’t in any mood for
compliments. "(Woods) doesn’t play very hard," he said. "He
doesn’t block and is lackadaisical. He has a tendency to
slack off."
"Dude was pushing off," Bruin sophomore cornerback Matt Clark
said. "We were in position to make plays, but we just didn’t
get calls."
The fault does not completely lie with Manning. The rest of the
UCLA secondary wasn’t all that impressive at times, either,
allowing OSU quarterbacks Josh Fields and Aso Pogi to combine for
350 yards passing. Wide receiver John Lewis, in his first game back
from a hamstring injury, caught seven passes for 113 yards.
Granted, the secondary was plagued by injury itself, with
sophomore free safety Matt Ware, who intercepted a second-quarter
pass, spraining his ankle. But sophomore Ben Emanuel moved over
from strong safety to replace Ware and came up with two picks,
including the one that sealed the win with 3:41 remaining in the
game.
"Turnovers win games," Manning said. "We got them, and that was
the difference. That’s the goal – to get the ball back in the
hands of the offense."
That way, Manning gets out of the woods.