After his performance at Washington, it’s become difficult
to assess what a good game is for Maurice Drew. The sophomore
tailback ran for 165 yards and one touchdown in Saturday’s
win, about half as many yards and four touchdowns less than his
now-legendary game at Husky Stadium two weeks ago. Drew may have
raised the bar so high that nothing he does for the rest of the
season will surprise or impress the fans. The 165 yards were the
second highest single-game total of his career, and his touchdown
will certainly be added near the top of his rapidly growing
highlight reel. “He definitely got our attention,” SDSU
coach Tom Craft said. “He is strong, tough, physical, and has
a low center of gravity. He’s got great body control, he
spins out of tackles real well, and he’s a great cutter.
I’m really impressed with him.” Drew’s touchdown
seemed to combine all of those attributes. On third down and three,
Drew burst through the hole for the first down, and then eluded the
Aztec secondary for the score. “Everyone got their blocks and
then it was one-on-one with the safety, and I made him miss,”
Drew said. “I just had to outrun the corner from the
backside.” Drew now has 669 rushing yards on the year, which
ranks him sixth in the nation and is more than last season’s
total. The sophomore currently leads the Pac-10 in rushing,
averaging 167.2 yards per contest. Drew, though, would rather
deflect the credit where he thinks it’s due.
“It’s not me,” Drew said. “It’s
Marcedes and the O-line, they’re doing all the
work.”
LONG-AWAITED RETURN: After a yearlong odyssey
off the field, senior receiver Tab Perry climbed validated his
return with his first touchdown of the season. On the year, Perry
only had two catches for 10 yards prior to Saturday’s game.
But with top receiver Craig Bragg injured, Perry cracked the
starting lineup and helped the Bruins break the game open with his
second-half touchdown reception. “The touchdown definitely
felt good,” Perry said. “I told Bragg before the game
that I was going to get him a touchdown, and I was happy to make
good on my promise.” After being shut out in the first half,
Perry caught two Drew Olson tosses on the opening drive of the
second half, including the touchdown on a 23-yard corner route.
“He ran a great route,” coach Karl Dorrell said.
“Drew threw a great ball, an NFL ball.” With
Olson’s favorite target sidelined, Perry, along with the rest
of the receivers, saw more looks from Olson than in the first three
games. But Perry downplayed the importance the receiving corps
places on receiving more touches. “It really doesn’t
matter,” Perry said. “We don’t really think about
(the distribution). We just want that win. We were happy in the
Washington game when we really didn’t pass that much and
Maurice ran for a million yards. If we can do that every game,
we’re going to take it.”
BREAKING IN: Freshman wide receiver Marcus
Everett and sophomore tight end J.J. Hair both hauled in their
first receptions of the year. Naturally, Everett’s two
receptions for 49 yards were a bigger thrill as they were his first
as a Bruin. “I’ve been so anxious for the past two
weeks, but after I caught it was a relief,” Everett said.
“It was nice to get that out the way.”
SENIOR’S FIRST START: Senior linebacker
Benjamin Lorier received his first UCLA start and had a number of
impressive tackles, finishing the game with the third most on the
team with seven. Lorier just found out he would start at weak side
linebacker during the bye week due to injuries to junior Justin
London and freshman Aaron Whittington. “You always have
jitters when you first get out there,” Lorier said. “It
takes you a series or some plays to get in the game.”
INJURY REPORT: The Bruins suffered only two
minor injuries. Freshman fullback Michael Pitre bruised his left
shoulder and Hair sprained his right shoulder.