The Bruins’ celebration of their win over Cal was tempered by the injury Christian Taylor suffered late in the game.
The middle linebacker collided with Cal running back Justin Forsett with only a couple minutes left in the game, causing a concussion. He did walk off the field consciously with the help of trainers but then experienced seizure-like symptoms on the sideline.
A CT scan was performed on his head and neck at Huntington Memorial Hospital, and he was released Saturday night.
After the game, coach Karl Dorrell talked about seeing his players hurt on the field.
“It’s always scary when you see a player go through something like that,” Dorrell said. “We had to say our prayers for him, and hopefully he’ll go through a speedy recovery.”
Taylor, a senior from Salinas, leads the linebackers with 28 tackles this season.
DEFENSE STUFFS THE RUSH: The UCLA defense essentially shut down Cal’s running attack, limiting them to only 67 yards on 30 attempts. A 13-yard run by Forsett in the fourth quarter was the longest of the game for the Bears.
Despite the Cal’s formidable receiving corps, the Bruin’s first goal, as usual, was to stop the rush.
“That was key,” senior defensive end Bruce Davis said. “We knew we had to stop the run. We knew that was what they were going to try to come out and do. It was no secret. When they went out and lined up with two tight ends, there’s really only one thing you can do after that. They challenged us and we met the challenge.”
After Saturday’s showing, the UCLA rush defense now ranks No. 8 in the country, allowing only 79.6 yards per game.
BREAZELL GETS HIS PASSING TOUCHDOWN: Wide receiver Brandon Breazell threw a 29-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter to Dominique Johnson after pulling up on a reverse. For Breazell, who talks frequently about his capabilities as a quarterback, it was his second passing attempt of the season and his career. The first one, which was underthrown, went for a 57-yard completion against Washington.
On the play, Johnson came down with the ball in the end zone with a defender in his face, but fullback Trevor Theriot was also wide open on the other side of the field.
“(Theriot’s) my second option,” Breazell said. “I didn’t even look to him.
“I told (the coaches) from the beginning that I could throw. I’m a natural-born quarterback. I grew up playing quarterback. “
Breazell’s career NCAA passer rating is now 626.2 with two completions for 86 yards and a touchdown.
DORRELL DEFENDS FOURTH-AND-1 PUNT: At the end of the third quarter down by one, the Bruins had a fourth-and-1 on the Bears’ 38-yard line. UCLA burned a timeout, unsuccessfully used a hard count to try to draw Cal offside, then punted after taking a delay-of-game penalty.
The move drew boos from the fans, especially after Aaron Perez’s punt went into the end zone for a touchback. Dorrell defended the move after the game.
“I didn’t want to make a mistake,” Dorrell said. “I just didn’t want to put ourselves in a bad situation there. You can get a chance to put them in their end of the field and make them drive to score some points. We didn’t nail the punt like we wanted to, but our defense came through and protected ourselves.”