DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA quarterback
Cory Paus is tackled by the Cal defense. In
Saturday’s game Paus threw four touchdown passes, but also threw
three interceptions. Cal 46 UCLA 38
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Reporter
BERKELEY “”mdash; Trampled roses are not pretty.
UCLA learned this the hard way after being stomped on by the
California Golden Bears 46-38 in a triple-overtime loss that
severely dampened the Bruins’ Rose Bowl hopes.
The loss, coupled by another Oregon win, put the Bruins two
games behind the Ducks in the race for the Pac-10 crown.
Perhaps even more disappointing was the fact that the Bruins
lost to a Bears team that was previously 1-4 overall and had beaten
UCLA a year ago in Pasadena.
“It’s frustrating,” quarterback Cory Paus
said. “It’s as frustrating as you can possibly
feel.”
Paus, who was hounded all day by Cal defensive linemen Andre
Carter and Jacob Waasdorp, completed 20 of 40 passes for 309 yards.
However, the redshirt sophomore was victimized by three
interceptions, including one on the final possession in
overtime.
“We played well enough to win,” Paus said. “We
didn’t make some plays, but we were still in a position to
win.”
The game was a pendulum of momentum, with the Bruins once again
falling behind early. The team has yet to score first this
year.
“You can only go to the well so many times,” head
coach Bob Toledo said of his team’s opening drive woes.
“We can’t keep falling behind early.”
Two weeks ago, UCLA was down by 14 against Arizona State at
halftime. The Bruins seemed destined for a repeat performance until
Ryan Nece knocked the ball loose from Cal quarterback Kyle Boller,
and UCLA recovered on the Bears five-yard line.
Twenty-two seconds later, Paus found tight end Brian Fletcher
for the second time to pull the Bruins to within seven at the
half.
 DAVE HILL/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Tailback Akil
Harris is tackled by a Cal defensive tackle. The Bruin
loss to the Bears marks their eighth straight road loss and all but
ensures that UCLA won’t be playing at the Rose Bowl. Cal dominated
most of the third quarter, which has previously been friendly to
the Bruins. The Bears held UCLA to a scoreless quarter, while
chewing up more than 10 minutes of the clock and scoring a
touchdown.
But as they have done all year, the Bruins stormed back. In the
fourth quarter UCLA got a pair of touchdowns off of turnovers.
Cal’s Keala Keanaaina dropped a Boller pass over the middle,
and safety Marques Anderson intercepted the tipped ball. Five plays
later Paus found freshman Akil Harris on a screen for a twenty-yard
Bruin touchdown.
Later in the quarter, Tony White recovered a fumbled handoff and
returned it to the Bears 41. Once again, the Bruins took advantage
as Paus found Mitchell over the middle for a catch-and-run for 35
yards.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the highlights ended there. The
first overtime saw Cal score on the second play, as Boller hit
Derek Swafford on the slant to beat Jason Bell and put the Bears
ahead, 35-28.
“We needed this game,” said Bell. “We should
have had it. It’s hard to keep putting yourself in a hole
like that.”
UCLA answered in the second half of the first overtime, twice
converting on fourth down and finally scoring on a quarterback
sneak on third and goal.
Cal stuffed Harris for a six-yard loss on the first play of the
second overtime, in which UCLA was unable to convert a first down.
The Bears held the Bruins to a 36-yard field goal by Chris
Griffith, giving the Bruins their first and only lead of the
afternoon.
Once again, Cal answered, this time with a field goal of its own
from 37 yards out.
Things looked good for the Bruins, who were able to start the
third overtime period on defense. With the help of a fifteen-yard
interference call against cornerback Ricky Manning, however, the
Bears drove the ball to the UCLA two-yard line.
Running back Joe Igber, who had 179 total yards, scored on the
next play to put Cal on top for good.
“They came out motivated,” UCLA linebacker Robert
Thomas said. “We started off slow, but I tip my hat to them.
We played well, but a couple of blown coverages were big
mistakes.”
Thomas led all defensive players with 11 tackles. Cal’s
Matt Nixon was second with eight, including three for a loss.
Freddie Mitchell highlighted the Bruin offense with 167 yards on
eight receptions.
The Bruins did not seem to show any real effects from the bye
week. According to Toledo, the week off allowed some players to
heal from nagging injuries incurred earlier in the season.
But the Bruins’ force was nonetheless depleted on
Saturday. They were down to some third-string defensive linemen
when Sean Phillips and Rusty Williams left the game with
injuries.
Phillips was hurt on the second play of the game, while Williams
was in and out throughout the contest.
With the loss, UCLA falls to 1-2 in conference play and 4-2
overall. While New Year’s dates are not out of the question,
it is unlikely that the Bruins will smell roses when the big dance
rolls around.