Monday, October 26, 1998
Bruin game tactics stop Cal in tracks
SIDEBAR: Poor Bear offense, red zone inefficiency secures
crucial halftime lead for UCLA team
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
When Cal changed quarterbacks on fourth-and-goal from the one,
everyone in attendance knew the Golden Bears were going to use the
quarterback sneak. That is, everyone but Cal head coach Tom
Holmoe.
"Maybe everyone in the stadium saw it but us," Holmoe said. "But
we just felt that if you can’t get that much in one play, then you
don’t really deserve to get it."
Freshman quarterback Samuel Clemons didn’t get that one yard.
The undeserving Bears ended up losing 28-16, thanks to two
goal-line stands and another turnover in the red zone. It was that
kind of day for Bear fans.
On the very first drive of the day, Justin Vedder, Cal’s
starting quarterback, drove the ball to the UCLA 17-yard line.
Then, on third down, the Bears’ demise started with an interception
by Bruin safety Larry Atkins, right in front of the end zone.
But that red zone stop was only the beginning. Although Cal
scored on their second and fifth possession inside the UCLA 20,
there were two other times in which the Bears couldn’t punch it
in.
With less than a minute left in the first half, Cal tailback
Marcus Fields was stopped by UCLA linebacker Tony White and Atkins.
Then the Bears called a time-out to discuss the upcoming play, but
somebody must have forgotten to tell the running backs to hold onto
the ball.
Fullback Joshua White rushed over the left tackle, and he found
out why freshman linebacker Robert Thomas was one of the top
recruits in the nation. Thomas hit his gap and in the process hit
White, forcing a fumble.
Atkins recovered the ball at the 2-yard line and tried to run
with it, only to be tackled and fumbled in the process. But since
his knee touched the ground while recovering the fumble, the
officials called the play dead.
"I knew I was down," Atkins said. "I was just hoping they didn’t
see it."
Atkins said that the fumble was the biggest play in the
game.
UCLA went into halftime with a 21-9 lead instead of a 21-16
lead. The opportunistic UCLA defense made its stand and
succeeded.
"It was huge because it could’ve given them the momentum going
into the half, but instead we had it," Toledo said.
Since Cal’s offense was capable of moving the ball in the second
half, another goal-line stand was still in store for the UCLA
defense. This time a turnover wasn’t coming and the Bruins had to
pick up their intensity for four plays  something that didn’t
look possible when Cal moved the ball from their own 36 to the
2-yard line.
On first down, Fields ran up the middle and as he tried to jump
into the end zone, White stuffed him for no gain. One down, three
to go.
On second down, Vedder rolled out to the left after a
play-action and had tight end Corey Smith open for a split second.
The pass was poorly thrown, and UCLA had survived another play. Two
down, two to go.
On third down Fields took a pitch to the right and looked ready
to break the plain. But Thomas came up huge again, and Fields was
stopped less than a yard away from the end zone. Three down, one to
go.
Now Clemons came in for Vedder. Toledo admitted after the game
that the Bruins were expecting the quarterback sneak, and that’s
what they got.
The defensive line buckled down one last time, stood up Cal’s
offensive line, and Clemons ended up moving backwards rather than
forward. Senior linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo exploded from the
pile-up in celebration, and UCLA kept its 21-9 halftime lead.
"We had a good defensive scheme, and the defense picked it up,"
Toledo said. "The key was to create new line of scrimmages, and our
defense created new line of scrimmages in the backfield."
Holmoe expected Clemons to be a little stronger than Vedder. The
hope was that Clemons could work his way into the end zone if the
Cal offensive line wasn’t able to provide much of a push.
The Bruins proved they wanted the stop more than Cal wanted the
touchdown. And in the end, the undeserving Bears were left to say
"Damn" instead of "Hooray!"
"I’m just getting sick to my stomach talking about why we can’t
punch it in," Holmoe said. "It’s too many times. The bottom line
is, you have to score points. Our red zone efficiency is just
atrocious."
Maybe next time the Bears have a fourth-and-goal from the one,
they will chose to kick a field goal. At least three points on the
scoreboard are better than none.
UCLA’s Keith Brown steels himself to run past the Golden Bear
defensive line.
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