Monday, November 17, 1997
Roseless in Seattle
FOOTBALL:
Bruins’ rout
leaves whimpering Huskies
out of the Rose Bowl raceBy Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
Total annihilation.
Nothing better could describe what took place on Saturday at the
Rose Bowl.
When the UCLA and Washington football teams took the field, a
close contest was expected. But the Huskies did not hold up their
end of the bargain.
Early in the fourth quarter, after the Bruins’ senior tailback
Skip Hicks busted up the middle for his fourth touchdown of the
afternoon, the score was a ridiculous 52-20. The final score turned
out to be 52-28, but with UCLA safely ahead in the waning moments,
the final score was of little concern.
In front of a sold-out crowd of 85,697 people, the No. 7 Bruins
(8-2 overall, 6-1 in the Pac-10) demolished a Washington team which
was finally eliminated from the Rose Bowl race.
The No. 18 Huskies (7-3, 5-2), who play Washington State (9-1,
6-1) next week in the Apple Cup, would have won the Pac-10 with
victories in their last two games.
But the Bruins won their eighth consecutive game in a convincing
fashion, and now, with a victory against arch-rival USC on Saturday
coupled with a WSU loss, UCLA will go back to the Rose Bowl for the
first time since 1994.
"I’m definitely rooting for (Washington against WSU next week),"
UCLA quarterback Cade McNown, whose passing (16 of 23 for 320 yards
and three touchdowns) was overshadowed by his 44 yards rushing and
leaping 11-yard touchdown, said. "But the one thing that is in our
control right now is the USC game. We can hope for a (Washington
victory) all we want, but it doesn’t make a difference if we go out
and lose to ‘SC next week."
After a 0-2 start and many questions about the team’s play, the
Bruins have bounced back to be among the elite in the nation. With
a Heisman-trophy candidate in Hicks and one of the top-rated
quarterbacks in McNown, lately, UCLA can do no wrong.
The 52 points put on the board against the No. 1 defense in the
Pac-10 typified the domination that the Bruin offense has exerted
throughout the season. With missed tackles left and right by the
Huskies, the Bruins terrorized a Washington team that finds itself
plummeting in the rankings. The Huskies fell from No. 14 to No. 18
in the AP polls after the loss.
"I don’t know what happened," Washington senior linebacker Jason
Chorak said. "The whole team just fell apart. When you have that
many missed tackles, you’re not mentally ready."
Hicks’ four-touchdown performance gave him 24 touchdowns for the
season and broke the Pac-10 single-season record of 23 Â set
by USC’s Marcus Allen and Washington’s Corey Dillon. Hicks, who
scored four times for the third time this season, also tied Charles
White’s Pac-10 mark of 53 career touchdowns.
"I’m just excited to reach a lot of my goals that I set for
myself, especially after all of the adversity I’ve been through,"
Hicks said. "I’m going to miss playing here and playing in this
Rose Bowl. Hopefully, I’m going to have one more shot up here. Just
in case I don’t, I have this (game) to take back home with me."
With a lot at stake in UCLA’s final home game of the season, the
Bruins came out a little shaky allowing a 47-yard run to Washington
tailback Maurice Shaw less than four minutes into the game. Then,
in a wild second quarter, the Bruins and Huskies traded touchdowns
as the teams found the end zone on five consecutive
possessions.
The key, though, was when the Bruins immediately answered
Washington’s third touchdown of the day with one of their own.
Hicks, who had 25 carries for 147 yards and three touchdowns,
caught a pass down the right sideline, and to everyone’s surprise,
there wasn’t a single Husky within 15 yards. With just a juke move
and a block by tight-end Ryan Neufeld, Hicks was in the end zone
with a 67-yard touchdown reception.
After a couple of punts, Bruin defensive coordinator Rocky Long
decided to switch to a zone-coverage scheme, and highly touted
Washington quarterback Brock Huard did not perceive the change.
Huard instead threw a perfect strike to Bruin cornerback Marques
Anderson. McNown went on to score on a 11-yard dive with 20 seconds
left in the first half, and the Bruins never looked back in the
second half.
"(In the second half) we couldn’t get the run going, and then we
got way too far behind and we had to throw," Washington head coach
Jim Lambright said. "And then you just open yourself up for a big
blitz package, which they had."
That "blitz package" that Lambright spoke of is what terrorized
the high-powered Husky offense. A bruised and battered Huard was
sacked five times in the second half and limped off the field on
almost every drive.
The Bruin defense, who committed several penalties during the
game, had a very intensive and emotional outing. The likes of
defensive ends Danjuan Magee (who had eight first-half tackles) and
Weldon Forde (who had two sacks) were not to be overshadowed by
Washington’s talented linebacker core.
"I think (our emotional outburst) was because of playing against
Washington, and guys just flying around and having fun," Bruin
senior linebacker Brian Willmer, who had one sack and seven
tackles, said. "When you’re making plays, and things are coming
together, you are just jumping around and having fun."
Coach Bob Toledo was delighted both with his team’s efforts and
the crowd at Pasadena. Toledo pleaded to fans for the last two
weeks in his weekly press conferences for them to come out to the
game and support the Bruins. The 85,697 fans in attendance did not
disappoint Toledo.
"I want to thank the fans," he said. "This was definitely a
home-field advantage. It was something we have been fighting for
for a long time. … Our players played inspired, and a lot of it
was because of the attendance. I just want to thank everyone that
came."
With a win against USC and a Washington State loss on Saturday,
UCLA fans will have one more chance to go to the Rose Bowl to cheer
on their Bruin team.
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
The team celebrates after Cade McNown, No. 18, scores his big
touchdown in the first half.