Marcus Everett has made it no secret that he welcomes an
expanded role with the UCLA football team.
During a season marred by inconsistency on offense ““ no
doubt influenced by a quarterback switch halfway through the season
““ Everett has even voiced his concerns at times, saying that
he could be the antidote for whatever is ailing the Bruin
offense.
In UCLA’s 25-7 win over Oregon State on Saturday at the
Rose Bowl, Everett only gave credence to what he had been
whispering at different points in the season. He caught the only
two touchdowns that UCLA (5-5, 3-3 Pac-10) scored against Oregon
State (6-4, 4-2 Pac-10), with both plays showing an opportunistic
aggression that the offense had been sorely lacking in quarterback
Pat Cowan’s previous four starts.
Everett’s first touchdown ignited an offense that was
moving at a sluggish pace to start the game. The Beavers received
the ball to start the third quarter with a 7-6 lead that was shaped
by a first half in which Cowan and his receivers were poorly out of
rhythm. When Beavers’ tailback Yvenson Bernard took a hand
off across midfield, Brigham Harwell jarred the ball loose, and
UCLA recovered.
SLIDESHOW
Click here to see more photos from the game against Cal
Saturday.
On the next play, Cowan threw a perfect strike to Everett, who
was three steps ahead of the man covering him, resulting in a
45-yard touchdown pass. UCLA had a 13-7 lead that it would not
relinquish. It was the longest play of the game for the Bruins, and
the first time in five games that they had scored a touchdown in
the third quarter.
It is this kind of big-play threat that Everett feels he brings
to the Bruins, and the kind of impact he had been waiting all year
to make.
“I feel like I bring an element to this team, that
explosiveness,” Everett said. “I’m glad I was
able to show what I can do.”
Everett’s second touchdown symbolized the difference
between the Bruins’ win on Saturday and their losses in the
four games prior ““ that closing drive in the fourth quarter
to secure the win.
Cowan led his team down the field on a 10-play, 57-yard drive,
at the beginning of the fourth quarter to give the Bruins a 19-7
lead and put a Beaver comeback out of reach.
The touchdown drive was capped by another Cowan-to-Everett
connection, this one coming on an improvisational 9-yard play.
Cowan rolled to his right to escape pressure, giving Everett enough
time to cross the back of the end zone and find a pass waiting for
him.
Although the Bruins had been plagued by an inability to make big
plays in the second half of games during the past month’s
losing streak, Everett gave the team enough offense on Saturday to
put the Beavers away.
“We hadn’t put together those kinds of drives in the
second half in the last few games,” Cowan said
Everett finished with three catches for 64 yards, two of them
registering for touchdowns. On the year, the junior only has 22
catches for 310 yards and five touchdowns ““ numbers that pale
in comparison to what many had predicted for the emerging
receiver.
While offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda has been reshaping the
playbook to suit Cowan’s skills, Everett has been one of the
players who have had to adapt to a new role. One noticeable
difference has been the use of bootlegs and rollouts that showcase
Cowan’s mobility, while the running backs and tight ends have
been used as primary receiving targets in the past few weeks.
As a result, Everett has not been featured in the passing game
as much as he might have been if Ben Olson had not injured his knee
and had remained the starter.
But Everett reiterated that he never complained about not
getting the ball ““ he simply was frustrated during the
Bruins’ four-game slide and wanted to give the offense a
spark.
That’s exactly what he did on Saturday.
“No disrespect to anybody ““ I just wanted to help us
win,” he said. “And (Saturday) I did, and that’s
all I wanted to do.”
The Bruins still need to win one of their remaining two games to
become bowl-eligible, and Everett is hoping his performance against
the Beavers will earn him more chances as the Bruins scramble to
get into the postseason.
“It’s very feasible (to get to a bowl), and I want
to help us as much as possible,” Everett said. “This
game, I was able to do that.”