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By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter
PALO ALTO “”mdash; Promise, penalties, picks and poor calls.
You could be talking about the whole game or just UCLA’s
second series of the second quarter. The drive was a microcosm of
the game.
Down 21-7 with 8:38 left in the half, Bruin quarterback Cory
Paus connected with sophomore wide receiver Tab Perry on a 44-yard
pass putting UCLA on the Stanford 35. The play was one of many that
seemed to shift the momentum in favor of UCLA.
However, on the next play, a six-yard rush by DeShaun Foster,
UCLA was moved back to the Stanford 44 after being called for a
personal foul. The penalty was one of nine for 86 yards, penalties
which hurt the Bruins in such a close game.
“You can’t win with all those penalties,” true
freshman defensive back Jibril Raymo said.
Stanford, on the other hand, had just one penalty for 10 yards,
though Bruin fans grumbled that they committed more.
On second and 19, UCLA was forced to pass and Paus aimed deep to
sophomore Ryan Smith but was picked off by Stanford’s Ryan
Fernandez. It was Paus’ first interception in 189 attempts, a
streak dating back to Nov. 11 of last year. In a night of snapped
UCLA streaks, the pick was particularly frustrating because many
felt Smith was tripped from behind and pass interference should
have been called.
“It was like, “˜Man are you serious? How can you not
call that?'” junior tight end Mike Seidman said.
The turnover killed UCLA’s momentum. Instead of coming
within seven, they lost the ball and Stanford scored on the
resulting drive to make the score 28-7.
“I think that play changed the game big-time,”
redshirt freshman strong safety Ben Emmanuel said. “It would
have been 21-14 and that would make a big difference in the ball
game.”
Although Stanford committed six turnovers, in a game of constant
momentum change, UCLA could not afford to make four turnovers
itself.
“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot,” Smith said.
“We put ourselves in a hole and it’s hard to come
back.”