No matter how hard you study your notes for that midterm, a good professor will always find a way to ask a question that you have never thought about how to answer. This is the gap between practice and experience that all students must endure.
On Saturday, UCLA quarterback Richard Brehaut found himself right in the middle of such a gap. Trailing No. 15 Arizona by just five points late in the game, Brehaut could not engineer a scoring drive on any of the Bruins’ four fourth-quarter possessions.
But a confident student builds on those situations. If he doesn’t panic and has faith in his abilities, he can learn just as much from a failed test as he did from an all-night study session.
Coach Rick Neuheisel has faith that Brehaut has the composure to be that kind of student.
“This is not too big for Richard,” Neuheisel said. “He has what I like to call moxie.”
Redshirt senior offensive tackle Micah Kia has seen many players come and go behind center at UCLA, and he, too, recognizes this facet of Brehaut’s personality.
“I like the kid,” Kia said. “I like when he comes in. He’s always smiling even when Coach has given him some choice words on the sideline. He runs and smiles and goes, “˜Hey guys, we got this.’ He’s always positive and tells us to brush it off.”
The fresh-faced sophomore quarterback ascended the depth chart this year to take sole position of the team’s starting spot. In each of his three starts, he has passed for more yards than his predecessor, the injured redshirt sophomore Kevin Prince, passed for in any game all season. Brehaut had a career-high 228 yards against Arizona.
The two deep touchdown passes he launched on Saturday showed a bit of what his “moxie” has helped him to achieve.
“He’s got an unbelievable swagger and he brings that to the huddle,” said redshirt junior Josh Smith, who received a 49-yard endzone heave from the quarterback.
“We knew he was talking before, but we didn’t really know if he had the confidence or not. It’s just wonderful to watch him grow and gain more and more confidence.”
That confidence did not give the Bruins a win against the Wildcats, but it’s the kind of disposition a quarterback needs in order to improve.
Starting with another home game this weekend, Brehaut still has chances to prove if he’s studied for his next exam.
Bowl chances disappearing
With a 3-5 overall record, UCLA is dangerously close to being eliminated from bowl contention. To reach the necessary six wins to become eligible for a postseason contest, the Bruins must win three of their four remaining games.
After this weekend’s game with unranked Oregon State at the Rose Bowl, UCLA will travel to both Washington and Arizona State before returning home for the regular season finale with rival USC.
In his Monday press conference, Neuheisel said reaching the postseason is “obviously the goal at this point.” That was not so at the beginning of the season though.
“I had hoped that the offense would blossom,” he said. “I had hopes for us to be in the race for the conference.”
UCLA was actually in nearly the exact same situation last season, with diminishing hopes to extend its season. After a five-game October losing streak, the 2009 Bruins sat at 3-5 before rallying back to win three in a row and finish 6-6.
That record does not always guarantee a bowl bid, but UCLA was granted a trip to the 2009 EagleBank Bowl in Washington D.C. at the last minute because Army, one of the bowl’s tie-in teams, lost to Navy, which dropped it to below the minimum eligibility.
UCLA went on to beat Temple, 30-21, for its first postseason win since the 2005 Sun Bowl.