It was just the second play of the game and Junior Taylor,
UCLA’s top receiver, found himself limping off the field with
the help of two of his teammates.
The senior was cutting through the middle of the field only to
be dragged down by Oklahoma’s D.J. Wolfe. As he went down,
Taylor’s left knee was caught under him.
“I knew as soon as I came down it was bad,” Taylor
said.
Though the extent of Taylor’s injury will not be released
until later today, the Bruins’ offense did not sputter in his
absence. UCLA’s Drew Olson utilized a bevy of receivers (10)
in the game en route to a season-high 314 yards, completing
28-of-38 passes.
“I don’t think there was a step lost at all,”
Olson said. “All the guys stepped up huge and I don’t
think we lost any speed.”
Olson’s main target was sophomore Marcus Everett. Everett
stepped in right off the bench and caught a 19-yard pass from Olson
along the right sideline just three plays after Taylor’s
injury.
Everett saw his first action since coming back from a separated
right shoulder that he endured during fall camp. The 6-foot-1-inch,
200-pounder recorded a team and personal career-high 66 yards on
six receptions.
“I was a little nervous because it was a big game,”
Everett said. “I knew I was going to be rotating in with
Junior, so when he went down I just knew I had to step up. It feels
great to have a big game like that.”
In addition to Everett, receiver Andrew Baumgartner, who was a
walk-on that was awarded a one-year scholarship, picked up the
slack with the loss of Taylor. The junior caught two passes for
41yards. Baumgartner also recorded his first career touchdown on a
24-yard pass with 5:31 to go in the first quarter to tie the game
at 7-7.
Though the Bruins were just 3-for-12 on third-down conversions,
when UCLA needed a third down in the second half, Olson found a
receiver. In the third quarter, the Bruins were staring at third
and 13 on their own 36-yard-line.
Baumgartner streaked down the middle of the field and caught a
22-yard pass which later resulted in a touchdown by tight end
Marcedes Lewis.
“It’s a privilege and opportunity to play in a big
game like this,” Baumgartner said. “When (Taylor) went
down, (the receivers) just realized and remembered what Junior
taught us. We’ve learned so much from him on how to play in
big time games against big time corners.”
LATE PENALTIES: The Bruins committed eight
penalties and were penalized for a total of 70 yards. Three of
their penalties, which were late hits and personal fouls, resulted
in each of the Sooners’ three scoring drives.
“I told the guys before the game we can’t afford to
commit penalties like this,” UCLA defensive coordinator Larry
Kerr said. “It’s almost 85 percent of the time the
opposing team scores when you commit those personal
fouls.”
The Bruins have already been hit with 24 penalties for 215 yards
this season.
FUMBLES: The Sooners fumbled the ball six times
and the Bruins were able to recover three of them. UCLA sophomore
free safety Dennis Keyes forced two of them.
“We knew that (Adrian) Peterson did handle the ball
loosely when he ran,” UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said.
“He’s a hard running, excellent tailback, but at times
he’ll get very loose with the ball and (Keyes) just happened
to get his hat right on the ball and it popped out.”
EXTRA POINTS: Leading 27-17 at the start of the
fourth quarter, Olson was intercepted by the Sooners’
Demarrio Pleasant who ran it down to the Bruins’ 15-yard
line. However, a holding penalty was called on Oklahoma senior
Chijoke Onyenegecha, nullifying the interception and giving the
Bruins back the ball. “¦ Senior kicker Justin Medlock is
currently tied with John Lee for the most 50-yard or more field
goals converted in a season with four. During Saturday’s
game, Medlock booted a 51-yard field goal and 44-yard field goal,
his fourth and fifth field goals this season. “¦ The
attendance at the Rose Bowl was 56,522.