For many Bruin fans, the final minutes of Saturday’s 30-20
loss to Oregon were puzzling. With four minutes to go and down by
17, the Bruins punted on fourth down, giving the impression that
they were giving up on coming back. When they recovered the punt
off of a muffed catch by the Oregon punt returner, the Bruins did
not run a no-huddle offense, losing much valuable time en route to
a touchdown. It essentially put them in a position where the game
became unwinnable because there was only 1:43 on the clock for the
Bruins to score 10 points. But apparently, there is an explanation.
First, the reason for the no huddle is simple: Quarterback Pat
Cowan could not speak. After sustaining a shot to the throat in the
second half, Cowan lost his voice and was unable to relay plays
from the sidelines and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage, a
necessity in a hurry-up offense. “We weren’t doing
two-minute stuff at the end because of communication,” coach
Karl Dorrell said. “It’s hard to do changes of
protection and audibles (when you can’t talk). Our receivers
were running in with the plays.” Despite the fact that Cowan
could not effectively run a no-huddle offense, and thus give the
Bruins a chance to win the game, Dorrell did not elect to put
backup quarterback Osaar Rasshan in. “(I thought about it)
for a brief second,” Dorrell said. “I don’t think
that was any time for that to happen. (Cowan) was still physically
able to play.” And in terms of the punt in the fourth
quarter, Dorrell avoided saying directly that he was thinking about
faking the punt, but he did say that they were attempting to do
something that they didn’t line up correctly. “I know
we needed the ball,” Dorrell said. “I’ve been
fortunate in times past (with successfully faking a punt). We tried
to do things indirectly, but we didn’t line up (the right
way).” “The opportunity did not present itself,”
he said. Despite the fact that the opportunity for a fake did not
present itself, the Bruins still punted ““ a curious decision
for a team trying to win a game.
TAYLOR RECOVERING: Linebacker Christian Taylor,
who played all but the first series against Oregon on Saturday
after sustaining a left ankle injury in the previous game against
Arizona, had some pain in his ankle after the game, but felt he was
improving. “It hurts a little bit,” Taylor said.
“It didn’t feel great after the game, but it’s
gotten gradually better. I don’t think I’m going to
practice today.” Taylor’s backup, Kyle Bosworth, played
just one series in the game. On the second play of the game, he was
beaten deep by an Oregon wide receiver, but Taylor doesn’t
see that as the reason why Bosworth didn’t play again.
“It wasn’t Kyle’s fault at all,” Taylor
said. “He did not come out because he messed up, he came out
because I was ready.”
INJURY REPORT: Defensive tackle Chase Moline
did not make the trip to Oregon, but will likely be practicing this
week. Tight end Ryan Moya will be out for the season after breaking
his leg in the game against Oregon. Offensive tackle Aleksey Lanis
will be practicing this week after tweaking his ankle against
Oregon.