Tuesday, November 5, 1996
FOOTBALL:
Coaches examine reasons behind Bruins’ loss to CardinalBy Rob
Kariakin
Daily Bruin Contributor
It has been three days now since UCLA’s last-minute loss to
Stanford. Time enough to review the film and sort out the
details.
Time enough to answer the burning question: what happened?
"Until they took the ball and drove all the way down the field
and scored, we had the game won," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said
Monday.
"I didn’t think they could go 80 yards on us, to be honest with
you."
But they did.
With 5:36 left in the game, a Bruin defense that had held the
Cardinal to only 14 first downs suddenly parted like the biblical
waters, giving Chad Hutchinson and his chosen people free access to
the end zone.
After which, of course, the Cardinal-Red Sea crashed in on the
Bruin offense which followed immediately behind.
"It was obviously, in our opinion, a game of missed
opportunities," Toledo said. "You know, we made too many mistakes,
and didn’t make enough plays."
Mistakes and missed opportunities were in abundance on the final
Stanford drive.
Starting at his own 20-yard line, Cardinal quarterback
Hutchinson completed all seven of his attempts for 76 yards on the
drive.
But he didn’t do it alone. Three times Bruin defenders missed
tackles on plays that ultimately became first downs.
The worst of these came on third-and-three with the ball on the
UCLA 39-yard line. Hutchinson turned to his left and threw a quick
pass to tailback Mike Mitchell on the flat.Reacting well to the
play, UCLA defensive end Weldon Forde initially caught Mitchell
behind the line of scrimmage, but failed to wrap him up. Mitchell
only managed four yards but it was enough; instead of 4th-and-long,
the Cardinal had a first down inside the Bruin 35.
Add to that two blown-coverage plays and it all amounts to a
great big helping hand for the Cardinal.
"People weren’t making plays that they should have made," Bruin
cornerback Andy Colbert said. "I missed some tackles that should’ve
been made."
Then there was the offense.
Taking the field after the Stanford touchdown, UCLA found itself
down by a point with 58 seconds and three timeouts to get within
field goal range. Five plays later, the clock had run out, the
Bruins had been penalized twice, the ball was in the hands of a
Stanford defender and UCLA had gained exactly two yards.
"We showed some inexperience (in the last few minutes), that’s
for sure," Toledo said after the game.
That inexperience was evident in the actions of sophomore QB
Cade McNown. Twice finding his receivers covered during UCLA’s
final drive, McNown chose to scramble, gaining a few yards but
running vital seconds off of the clock.
"It doesn’t do you one bit of good to make six yards," Toledo
said. "Throw it away, pick up your weapons and let’s move on."
But inexperience will remedy itself with time. However, UCLA’s
other problems are another concern.
"You can’t put yourself in that position, it’s just that simple,
to have to win the game in 58 seconds," UCLA offensive coordinator
Al Borges said afterwards.
"I don’t think the game was lost in the last 58 seconds. It was
lost way before that."
* * *
With five quarterback sacks against the Cardinal, the Bruin
defense has 28 on the year. This ties them for third in the Pac-10
behind Washington (35) and Cal (33).
By comparison, UCLA’s opponents have managed only 17, the third
lowest total in the conference.
WYNN RUJIRAVIRIYAPINO
Cade McNown runs vital seconds off the clock in a last minute
scramble to gain ground over the Cardinal at the Rose Bowl on
Saturday.
UCLA vs Stanford