Going into the game, it looked like a mismatch. Cal had the
second-best rushing attack in the Pac-10. UCLA had the second-worst
rushing defense in the Pac-10. Nearly 330 rushing yards and two
rushing touchdowns later, it was still a mismatch. The difference
was that in Cal’s seven trips to the red zone, Cal only
scored three touchdowns, two of which were rushing. “We bent,
and we bent, but we never gave up,” senior linebacker Justin
London said. “We gave up what seems like a 1,000 yards
tonight, but we made the stops at the most important times.”
In total, the Bears accumulated 545 yards of total offense, the
most the Bruins have given up to a team this season, but in the
fourth quarter, the Bears were held to three points. It was the
fifth-straight game the Bruins have held their opponent to less
than seven points in the fourth quarter. “We just
didn’t execute when we needed to,” said Cal running
back Justin Forsett, who rushed for 158 yards on 10 carries.
“You have to give credit to their defense; they made the
plays when they needed to, and we didn’t.” The Bruins
suffered a critical injury to their defensive line when sophomore
defensive tackle Brigham Harwell went down with a sprained right
ankle with 2:47 left in the first quarter. Harwell, one of the
Bruin’s top returning lineman from last season, is the third
Bruin defensive lineman to go down with an injury this season;
redshirt sophomore Nikola Dragovic and junior Kevin Brown already
suffered season-ending injuries. Without Harwell, whose X-rays were
negative, in the lineup, the Bruins turned to redshirt sophomore
William Snead and redshirt freshman Kenneth Lombard. Snead finished
third on the team with five tackles while Lombard led the team with
two tackles for a loss, and each made crucial stops on third down
in the fourth quarter. “When Brigham went out, we all knew we
had to step up,” Snead said. “It shows how much
character and gut we have that we can make those big stops in the
fourth quarter.” For a while, however, it looked as though
the Bruins’ defense would fold. The Bears had 291 rushing
yards by the end of the third quarter, and both running backs,
Forsett and sophomore Marshawn Lynch, were easily over the 100-yard
mark. The Bruins were using all of their available resources on the
defensive line, including junior walk-on Brian Ruziecki. “We
didn’t have many bodies left,” UCLA defensive
coordinator Larry Kerr said. “Its hard to do what you want
out there, but you just battle through it. Those guys that were out
there ““ they brought everything they had.” In the
fourth quarter, the Bears largely abandoned their running game,
recording only 40 rushing yards in the quarter. On a critical third
down and three play with over three minutes left, Cal quarterback
Joe Ayoob threw an incomplete pass, handing the Bruins the ball
back on their eventually game-winning drive. “We told the
offense in the fourth quarter, “˜We’ll get you the ball
back,'” senior safety Jarrad Page said.
“”˜And then you better score.'”
STUDENTS ARRESTED: Four students were arrested
at the end of Saturday’s game for trying to rush the field.
The students remain unidentified. One nearly made it to the middle
of the field before being tackled by three security officials.
JOSEPH INJURED: Offensive lineman Chris Joseph
exited the game with a left knee injury on the fourth play of
scrimmage. The knee is the same one Joseph had surgery on last
season, and this injury is expected to require surgery as well.
Senior Robert Cleary finished the game in the absence of
Joseph.
WALKER PLAYS: Senior linebacker Wesley Walker
played the majority of Saturday’s game after only seeing
limited action in the Oct. 1 game against Washington. Walker missed
the first games of the season with a separated shoulder.
LYNCH BENCHED: Cal sophomore running back
Marshawn Lynch was suspended for the first quarter of
Saturday’s game for missing a mandatory position meeting
earlier in the week. Sophomore running back Justin Forsett started
in his place.