Monday, October 5, 1998
UCLA uses running game to beat WSU
RECAP: With Cougars committed to stopping McNown, Bruins used
three rushers to grind out yardage
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
Sooner or later the UCLA football team will hit all cylinders.
Until then, 49-17 victories will have to do.
After a spirited and vengeful performance against Washington
State on Saturday, the No. 4 Bruins (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the
Pac-10) kept mentioning how improvements needed to be made – like
better executing the passing attack and cutting out pointless
penalties that proved to be harmless on Saturday.
The Cougars (3-2, 0-2) helped to make sure none of the Bruins’
mistakes would come back to haunt UCLA. In three of their first
four possessions WSU turned the ball over. A putrid offense could
not get the air attack going while the running game had negative 10
yards on 12 carries late in the first half. By the end of the game
the UCLA defense had amassed four turnovers (three fumbles, one
interception) and blocked two punts.
"I thought the defense was awesome," UCLA offensive coordinator
Al Borges said. "They forced some turnovers, gave us a short field
to play offense and blocked a couple of punts. It’s fun to call
offense when you don’t have to drive 80 yards every time."
On average, the Bruins started their drives two yards away from
midfield. In contrast to the Cougars’ turnover-plagued start, UCLA
was able to score early and often with drives of 42 yards, 48 yards
and 54 yards before nine minutes were gone from the clock.
One would expect UCLA quarterback Cade McNown to have done all
of the work, considering that he’s a leading Heisman trophy
candidate. But instead, Borges decided to call a game where
smash-mouth football dominated.
With a rotation of three running backs (sophomore Jermaine
Lewis, junior Keith Brown and freshman DeShaun Foster) the idea was
to pound the ball down the gut of the Cougar defense.
"They played power football and we did too," said Lewis, who a
year ago against WSU was stopped on fourth-and-one to seal a 37-34
Cougar victory. "The first two teams we played said that UCLA
wasn’t really physical any more, and we wanted to go out there and
show that we were still a physical team."
Lewis and the Bruins pushed WSU around, and then retribution
came for the now-forgotten play of 1997 six plays into the game
when Lewis plunged into the end zone at the 4:04 mark. Lewis, who
after the game admitted he personally wanted to destroy this team,
finished with 94 of UCLA’s 256 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
"(UCLA) can outrun you, and I think that’s what happened today,"
WSU head coach Mike Price said. "It was like a track meet, and they
just outran us."
Borges and UCLA head coach Bob Toledo must have been flipping a
coin between plays to decide which tail back will run in which
play. Lewis had 15 carries, Foster had 12 carries for 77 yards and
Brown had 10 carries for 31 yards and two touchdowns. Apparently
the departure of 1,000 yard rusher Skip Hicks to the National
Football League hasn’t had as big of an impact as originally
feared.
"Who says one guy has got to rush for 1,200 yards?" Borges said.
"Why can’t three guys rush for 1,200 or 1,400 yards or whatever.
There is no law. It looks better when you have a 1,000 yard rusher,
but the truth is it’s probably better if three guys do it because
there’s no wearing down."
McNown was probably the happiest person to see the rushing
attack fueled up. In a game where the key player on the Bruin team
had a rather average day, the rest of the team stepped it up.
McNown finished with one touchdown and one interception plus 205
yards on the air. His deep ball was off, and it looked as if every
pass he threw in the first half was underthrown.
Yet McNown did not go quietly into the night. Like his offensive
counterparts, McNown made an impact with his legs rather than his
arm. On the third drive of the day, McNown ran a boot leg to the
left. Both receivers were covered and in the progression of the
play McNown himself was the third option.
Then, in what looked to be reminiscent of John Elway in the most
recent Super Bowl and Randall Cunningham in the late ’80s, McNown
took to the air with an acrobatic leap which created a highlight
that East Coast Heisman voters will not soon forget.
McNown jumped over two Cougar defenders in what he called an
"overpass into the endzone" rather than a lane. In the air McNown
was sent into a pirouette before landing on his back. The score was
now 21-0 and the scoreboard indicated it was still the first
quarter.
"Cade McNown is a fierce competitor, and you can’t tell him how
to run," said Toledo.
"When you get in those situations everything is instinctive.
He’s not looking for a place to hide, and he’s not one to run out
of bounds very often. When he sees the end zone he wants to get in
and that’s power football. Hopefully he continues to remain healthy
doing those kind of things."
But McNown probably didn’t jump higher than junior flanker Danny
Farmer (who is also a middle blocker for the volleyball team) when
he made his 51-yard reception in the second quarter. Farmer came
back and leaped up high to snatch an underthrown deep ball to
prevent McNown from throwing his second interception of the
game.
The way in which the Bruins dominated the ground was very
reminiscent of last year’s game against Houston. In that game
McNown had 297 yards and four touchdown passes by halftime – the
reason being how committed those Cougars were to stopping the
run.
Just as Houston stopped the run by making themselves vulnerable
to the pass, WSU did exactly the opposite by leaving themselves
vulnerable to the run, and while effectively limiting McNown, WSU
could not stop UCLA as a team.
"You take what they give you," McNown said. "It’s like last year
when we played Houston here. They basically brought eight or nine
guys up to the line and we roasted them up top. If a team is going
to say ‘We’re going to stop the pass’ then they’re probably going
to do it."
With improvements still needed, it’s surprising how the coaches
and players realize that a 49-17 victory doesn’t mean it’s time to
celebrate.
With a halftime score of 35-10, a letdown in the second half was
imminent. But with a game at Arizona (5-0, 2-0) next week, the
contrast between the first and second half must be a concern for
the coaching staff.
It’s true that the Bruins didn’t want to be accused of running
up the score and therefore ran more conventional plays in the
second half. But UCLA isn’t about excuses, and therefore the
contrast in the two 30 minute spans will be addressed in practices
this week.
The Bruins did accomplish their goal of playing power football
while being aggressive on defense. A few missed tackles could be
accounted for by the layoff between games while the 11 penalties
for 118 yards could be a testament to the emotional game in which
the Bruins searched for redemption. Again, the players and coaches
will not make any excuses.
"The mistakes we’re making and the penalties are just killing
us," Lewis said. "We’re playing hard, but we’re just shooting
ourselves in the foot."
Imagine what will happen once the Bruins play up to their
standards.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Danny Farmer leaves Washington State’s Sean DeCambra behind as
the Bruins grab a victory.
Penalty flags flew too often Saturday as Bruins played on
emotion
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