Correction Appended
SAN DIEGO “”mdash; Having game-planned for San Diego State for a
little over a week, the UCLA football team came into its
season-opener on Saturday night with a long list of
instructions.
By the middle of the second quarter, it quickly became apparent
that all the Bruins needed to adhere to were two ““ let
running back Maurice Drew run the ball, and let tight end Marcedes
Lewis catch it.
Drew and Lewis did, early and often, easily delivering UCLA
coach Karl Dorrell what he’s been without in his first two
seasons in Westwood – a season-opening win.
“We’re 1-0 baby,” Dorrell said. “That
was the goal; we’re 1-0.”
In front of a bipartisan 50,710 at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday
night, Drew and Lewis helped UCLA make quick work of the Aztecs
with a 44-21 victory, causing any concerns regarding the
Bruins’ offense as well as the revelry of San Diego
State’s student section to all but disappear.
And all it took was about 10 seconds.
That’s how long Drew needed to receive the opening handoff
from quarterback Drew Olson, cut back to the left and rumble down
the field for a 64-yard touchdown, giving the Bruins an early
seven-point lead.
“A gaping hole came out of nowhere, the offensive line did
a great job and everyone was on their guy,” said Drew, who
finished the game with 194 all-purpose yards (114 of them rushing)
and three touchdowns despite not playing nearly the entire second
half. “All I had to do was run.”
“Anything can happen with Drew,” Lewis said.
“He broke the first tackle, and I knew he wasn’t
getting caught.”
But Drew’s dramatics were only beginning.
Midway through the second quarter, the Aztecs (0-1) punted the
ball to Drew and appeared ready to lay out the Bruin junior as soon
as he caught it.
Drew, however, spun nearly 360 degrees, made his first tackler
miss, and snaked his way through San Diego State’s punt team
for a 72-yard touchdown.
And when Drew wasn’t running around the Aztecs’
defenders, Lewis was hovering over them.
Having pledged during all of fall camp that he was ready to make
the impact he wanted, Lewis made good on his promise for at least
one game, choosing an opportune time to set career-highs in both
receptions (7) and receiving yards (131), almost eclipsing both
marks by halftime.
Lewis’ dominance on the field was so apparent that not
another UCLA receiver recorded a reception until the beginning of
the second half.
“I don’t think anyone can guard me,” Lewis
said. “As long as the ball is in my area, I’m going to
get it.”
“It was easy (finding Lewis),” Olson said.
“He’s not an unknown weapon or anything. It was nice
seeing him run.
“(With Drew and Lewis), offensively we didn’t have
too much to do passing-wise.”
And although Olson’s stat-line, completing 10 of 15 passes
for 152 yards, seemed rather economical, it was exactly what
Dorrell wanted to see out of his senior quarterback and all that
Olson needed to do Saturday.
That’s because UCLA’s offense was firing on its two
most explosive cylinders and an obviously superior Bruins’
special team unit was dictating field position, allowing the Bruins
to start five drives in Aztec territory.
While Bruin players and coaches said losing Saturday’s
season-opener to the Aztecs was never an option, after only one
play, it never even seemed like a remote possibility.
Instead, the Bruins, save Drew, took the drama out of
Saturday’s game early, improved their unbeaten record against
San Diego State to 20-0-1, and started off the 2005 season
differently than the previous year, this time a leg and a win up on
the schedule.