A week ago, only two UCLA wide receivers recorded a reception,
and that wasn’t until after halftime.
In Saturday’s 63-21 victory over Rice, seemingly every
available Bruin receiver walked out of the Rose Bowl with a catch
to his stat line.
“We do have receivers, as you can see,” UCLA coach
Karl Dorrell said.
And this time, it only took three plays for them to be initiated
into the offense.
In only the game’s second minute, quarterback Drew Olson
found Junior Taylor on a stop route and watched the receiver do the
rest, scampering past a hapless Rice defense for a 39-yard
touchdown.
That play proved to be a recurrent theme for the rest of the
evening, and as far as the Bruin receivers hope, the rest of the
season.
“That first game was a little bit weird,” said
Taylor, who finished Saturday’s game as the Bruins’
leading receiver with five receptions for 93 yards and two
touchdowns.
“I don’t think we’re going to have any more
games (like that first one).”
Saturday’s performance followed a season-opening 44-21
victory over San Diego State in which the UCLA receiving corps left
some burning questions still unanswered due to a lack of
productivity. This game put some of those concerns to rest, at
least for the moment.
UCLA passed for more yards in the first quarter (172) than it
did the entire game last week (152), as nine different players
recorded a catch against Rice with Olson seemingly having multiple
open targets every time he dropped back.
“Especially after last week, that was big for us,”
said Olson, who threw for 296 of UCLA’s 325 passing yards and
all three of its touchdowns through the air.
While tight end Marcedes Lewis and running back Maurice Drew
stole the limelight last week, their presence alone appeared to
open things up for all of UCLA’s receivers.
Rice, which ranked 107th among Division I-A teams in pass
defense a year ago, repeatedly stacked the box to prevent the run
and almost exclusively double-teamed Lewis beyond the line of
scrimmage, leaving clear passing lanes for Olson and open field to
run for Bruin receivers.
“They had to pay for it, (using single coverage),”
Taylor said. “Defenses will have to start respecting our
receiving corps, which should open everything up for
everybody.”
Except for critics to question the output of the Bruins’
wide receivers.
RUN DREW, RUN: With his 66-yard punt return for
a touchdown in the second quarter, Maurice Drew became only the
second Bruin to run back a punt return in consecutive games.
Drew ran a 72-yard punt return back for a score last week
against San Diego State. He now has three punt returns for
touchdowns for his career, tying him for the all-time lead in
school history with Darryl Henley and Sam Brown.
OFFICIAL REVIEWS: It didn’t take long for
instant replay to be implemented for the first time this year at
the Rose Bowl, with an official review of Bruin Ryan Moya’s
reception with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
It didn’t take long for it to be utilized again, when
Marcedes Lewis’ foot was ruled out of bounds on a possible
touchdown reception less than two minutes later.
The stoppage time for each review was approximately two
minutes.
LOUISIANA UPDATE: UCLA’s five players
from Louisiana, Fred Holmes, Chris Horton, Chris Johnson, Chris
Markey and Aaron Meyer, were the team captains for Saturday
night’s home opener.
The crowd at the Rose Bowl raised $39,297.95 during the
“Bruins For Relief” fundraiser for Hurricane Katrina
victims.
EXTRA POINTS: Rice, which led all Division I-A
last year with by averaging 306 yards rushing per game, was limited
to only 192 yards rushing on Saturday. “¦ Redshirt sophomore
linebacker Christian Taylor recovered a fumble and ran it in for a
four-yard touchdown. “¦True freshman Kahlil Bell registered
his first career touchdown Saturday, running it up the gut for 22
yards and capping the last of UCLA’s 63 points. “¦
Saturday’s game was Rice’s first as a member of
Conference USA. “¦ The attendance for Saturday night’s
home opener was 44,808, lower than any attendance figure at the
Rose Bowl for all of last season. … Defensive lineman Justin
Hickman injured his left shoulder toward the end of the first half.
Hickman was on the sidelines but not in uniform for the second
half.