Monday, December 14, 1998
Running backs power past Cougars
WSU: Lewis, Foster, Brown convince opponents, nation that UCLA
plays rough ball
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
UCLA’s tailback trio of sophomore Jermaine Lewis, junior Keith
Brown and freshman DeShaun Foster showed what power football is all
about while leading the Bruins to a 49-17 victory over Washington
State in the Rose Bowl.
After allowing 256 rushing yards, the Cougars knew they had
fallen victim to a better team.
No. 4 UCLA (3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Pac-10) got vindication from
the demoralizing 37-34 loss to Washington State which opened the
Bruins’ 1997 campaign.
"(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."
Thanks to great field position, UCLA jumped out to a 35-10
halftime lead. On average, the Bruin offense began its drives on
the its own 48-yard line.
Before even nine minutes had expired, Bruin senior quarterback
Cade McNown led his offense to three touchdowns with drives of 42
yards, 48 yards and 54 yards.
"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."
While the Bruins did commit 11 penalties for 118 yards, the
sloppy play never put the outcome of the game in doubt.
Lewis, who a year ago against WSU came up short on a
fourth-and-goal from the one to clinch the loss to the Cougars,
wanted to prove that UCLA would no longer be disrespected by
opposing defenses.
"They played power football and we did too," said Lewis, who
finished with 94 rushing yards and two touchdowns. "The first two
teams we played said that UCLA wasn’t really physical anymore, and
we wanted to (go) out there and show that we were still a physical
team."
Foster added 77 yards on 12 carries, while Brown finished the
day with 10 carries for 31 yards and two touchdowns.
Even McNown felt like contributing to the ground attack. On the
third drive of the day, McNown ran a bootleg to the left and (in
what he called an "overpass into the end zone") jumped over two
Cougar defenders.
McNown was sent into a pirouette before landing on his back.
"(McNown) is not looking for a place to hide, and he’s not one
to run out of bounds very often," UCLA head coach Bob Toledo said.
"When he sees the end zone he wants to get in, and that’s power
football."GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Wide receiver Danny Farmer leaves Washington State
in the dust on his way to 100 total yards of offense.
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