Monday, October 19, 1998
Dedication, heart drives players to win game
COLUMN: Quarterbacks put aside individual goals for team’s
victory
Big players create big games through big hearts. On Saturday,
primetime players stepped up from the shadows on the field created
by the Rose Bowl press box and glowed.
Cade McNown, Reuben Droughns, Danny Farmer, Damon Griffin
…
The list is never ending, as different players stepped up at
different times to help change the momentum of the game.
But for two players out on the field, losing was not an
option.
For two players in particular, no pain, injury or illness was
going to restrict them from grabbing the lead in the Pac-10 race.
These two players were not going to fall off quietly into the
fading sun and throw out an undefeated season.
These two players: UCLA’s Cade McNown and Oregon’s Reuben
Droughns.
One is a gritty Heisman hopeful who proved that big players show
up for big games, and the latter, a junior college transfer who was
not widely acclaimed until he erupted against Stanford.
Two players. Two dreams. Two ailments.
At the start of the game, Droughns helped lead the Ducks down
the field to be in position to score, but would cough up the ball
on the 10 yard line. UCLA would score thanks to the turnover.
In the second quarter with 11:56 remaining on the clock and
Oregon trailing 17-7, Droughns would once again cough up the
ball.
‘I knew I had to pick my game up,’ he said. ‘I had to hold the
ball harder and made sure that I kept it with me, because those
turnovers killed us.’
Droughns did not fumble the rest of the quarter; this was
largely because he didn’t play the rest of the quarter after a nine
yard pick up minutes later. A teammate rolled over his ankle, and
Reuben was taken off the field for precautionary measures.
Taped, shaken but not stirred, Droughns would reawaken in the
second half, rumbling past a seemingly slower UCLA defense. All in
all Reuben would rack up 172 yards, averaging 6.9 per carry, with
his longest rumble equaling 29 yards.
‘Reuben played a great game with a lot of heart,’ said offensive
guard Stefan deVries. ‘He came out on that field and wasn’t going
to let anyone stop him.’
But once again the past came back to haunt the running back, as
Droughns coughed up the ball once more and this time at a more
critical juncture, as the Ducks were driving. His eyes held his
pain. His silence spoke volumes.
When the Bruins left with a win, Droughns walked slowly off the
field, like a lost soul searching for a body to find. Voice
soft-spoken, and sweat dripping off his face like tears, Droughns
was the fitting portrait of an Oregon team that pushed UCLA to the
brink.
Across the field enjoying the win was McNown.
The same McNown who had lit up the Ducks for 395 yards.
The same McNown who had thrown two interceptions.
The same McNown who had to be removed from the game for one play
because he vomited on the field.
This was a picture of the gritty bronze statue.
McNown would go 9-13 after that incident, and would throw two
long bombs to set up overtime.
With pressure mounting on every tick of the clock, McNown came
through in the clutch and proved he is worth every bit of hype.
He overcame a few crucial drops by his young receiving corps and
pressure by the high-flying Ducks to make the big plays at the
right times.
If the Fiesta Bowl is where UCLA travels in the postseason, this
game will mark a defining point in the Bruin season. It is this
game that showed that McNown would win at any cost.
In Bob Toledo’s press conferences, he always talks about
McNown’s chances at the Heisman, saying that stats should not make
a winner, but the player’s competitiveness and how well his team
does.
McNown showed why he is deserving of accolades because he was
gunning for one thing Saturday: victory.
No thought of numbers. No ideas of broken records. Just
victory.
Ill or not ill. Injured or healthy. Pressure or no pressure.
Droughns and McNown summed up the play in this game, where every
player left with his heart out on the field, where every player
showed why college football is special. These players are out there
for the very essence of the sport, the fiery competitive passion
inside them that drives them.
Some may walk off the field in joy like McNown.
Some may walk off the field in utter silence like Droughns.
But both should walk off that field with their heads held high
because they are prime examples of valor and heart at its
finest.
Salmon is a football beat writer who is looking for a mental
hospital to check into thanks to last week. Email responses to
[email protected].
Rocky Salmon
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]