BERKELEY “”mdash; All it took was a pair of futile running plays
up the middle and the UCLA football team was all but done.
It didn’t matter that the Bruins were only down two
touchdowns with a quarter and a half to play.
It was third down, then fourth, with one play midway through the
third quarter that told all that needed to be said about
Saturday’s 45-28 loss to California ““ another missed
opportunity that could have put the Bruins right back into it.
During a terrific momentum-gaining drive, in which UCLA gained
63 yards and four first downs, the Bruins suddenly found themselves
at the Bears’ 10-yard line on third down with a yard to go.
And they were unable to move the ball at all. Tailback Maurice Drew
was given the handoff and abruptly stopped after hitting a Cal wall
at the line of scrimmage.
On the next play, Manuel White was given the handoff and tried
to rush up the middle, but was stopped and lost two yards on the
run. The Bears took over the ball and could do whatever they
pleased with it.
“We felt like we had a shot there, but just didn’t
get it done,” offensive coordinator Tom Cable said. “We
were really debating whether to kick the field goal or not. But we
thought we could get it. We ended up going for it and
couldn’t get it done.”
“Plays like that we have to make it,” White said.
“They outplayed us there.”
Leading up to those plays, the Bruins had finally opened their
offense up and were putting together their second impressive drive
of the evening. The drive started with a spectacular 41-yard catch
by receiver Tab Perry, who earned the last 20 of those yards with a
Bears’ defender trying to drag him down. The Bruins then
followed that with two running plays for 24 yards, marching all the
way down to Cal’s 10-yard line.
UCLA looked poised to score a touchdown and cut its deficit in
half. But suddenly they were unable to move the ball again.
Drew and White lost two yards on consecutive carries when they
needed to gain just one. The inability to convert on what could
have been a tide-turning series was monumental.
“We had a pretty good plan for it. I don’t know what
happened in the backfield,” center Mike McCloskey said of the
fourth down play. “That’s really discouraging to not
make that play.”
The momentum-killing plays were just two of many missed
opportunities for UCLA, several of which could have allowed the
Bruins to make a comeback.
During a game-changing stretch late in the first half, UCLA tied
the game at 14-14 with only three minutes left. But they let the
Bears drive 80 yards on the ensuing possession that culminated in
an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass. UCLA managed to give the Bears
even more spirit going into the locker room when fullback Michael
Pitre fumbled the ball as the Bruins tried to get into field-goal
range at the end of the quarter.
But it wasn’t just the offense that sputtered Saturday.
The Bruins’ defense proved unable to stop the Bears in some
critical situations. The Bears converted five third downs and were
two of two on fourth down conversions.
“It just came down to them making the plays and we
didn’t,” linebacker Justin London said.
“That’s how you lose football games.”
Unfortunately for the Bruins, all that one, crucial fourth-down
play did was lose them two yards, the ball and ultimately the
game.