TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; The UCLA defense was as dominant as it has been in recent years on Friday night. But even with the stellar defensive performance, the football team was unable to keep its hopes for bowl eligibility alive.
The Bruins allowed only 122 total yards ““ the lowest since giving up a total of 42 against Arkansas back in the 1989 Cotton Bowl.
The same defense that gave up more than 200 yards rushing five different times this season held the Arizona State running attack in check, giving up only 21 yards on the ground. Aside from stopping the run, UCLA was effective in holding ASU to a 2-of-13 conversion rate in third-down situations.
Yet, it will be the Sun Devil defensive unit who receives all of the recognition for its record-breaking performance.
ASU set defensive school records with the most interceptions returned for touchdowns in one game (three) and the most defensive touchdowns scored in a game (four), which also ties them with Houston for the NCAA record.
“Their defense certainly was the key,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. “Our inability to keep from turning the ball over, which has been the nemesis throughout the season, bit us again tonight.”
UCLA’s defense had its best showing of the year on Friday night, building off the 135 total yards it allowed only two weeks prior against Washington.
“I think we’re finally starting to click,” senior cornerback Michael Norris said. “We’re playing in sync, more in sync than we’ve played all year. We have a lot of confidence.”
“We’ve all been stepping up,” junior cornerback Alterraun Verner said. “We just realized that we’ve got to perform week in, week out. It starts at practice. We’ve been working hard, going over film, trying to mesh as a team. It came out (Friday night).”
The Bruins have been steadily improving since giving up a season-worst 323 rushing yards against Oregon. Since then, they allowed 250 yards on the ground to Stanford, 232 to California, 201 to Oregon State, and just 96 to Washington.
“Our run defense has been getting better and better ““ that was one thing that was harming us,” Verner said. “Now (other teams) can’t run the ball and they have to throw (the ball). Everything is coming together.”
While the defense is peaking at the right time, the offense suffered a setback by failing to score even a single touchdown.
Going into the game, the Bruins were 3-0 when totaling more yards than their opponent. But even with a 306-122 edge in total yards on Friday, the mistakes on the offensive side of the ball proved to be much too costly to overcome.
Even with the disparity in production, Neuheisel does not sense division amongst the players of the offensive and defensive units.
“I’m thrilled with the way they’ve responded to it,” he said. “I believe that they’ll respond in the correct way again even though it is as difficult as it’s ever been. … That’s the kind of character we have in this program.”
That character was evident with just under a minute left, when freshman running back Derrick Coleman, who unknowingly fumbled during ASU’s first defensive touchdown, walked over to apologize to Norris.
“It was one of those things, as a senior, it’s your last away game,” Norris said. “I wasn’t down, but you want to win. (Coleman) was just telling me that they’ve got my back.”
When it was evident that UCLA would be eliminated from bowl contention for the first time since 1999, Verner leaned next to senior defensive tackle Brigham Harwell and whispered in his ear.
“I was playing this game for all the seniors,” Verner said. “I’m going to keep working and try to help (Harwell) get a win (on Saturday). And I said, “˜We’ve still got one more to go out and show off against ‘SC.'”