DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff In the second
quarter of UCLA’s 38-28 loss Saturday, senior tailback
DeShaun Foster rolls over teammates toward the
Stanford end zone, only to fumble. He recovered this one. However
he wasn’t so lucky the second time, which led to a Cardinal
touchdown drive. The Bruins fumbled the ball three times Saturday,
bringing their season total to 23. Stanford 38
UCLA 28
By Scott Bair
Daily Bruin Reporter
PALO ALTO “”mdash; Silence was the deafening sound that echoed
from the UCLA locker room after the No. 4 Bruins’ 38-28 loss
to the No. 20 Stanford Cardinal. Silence was the sound that crushed
the national championship hopes that the Bruins (6-1, 3-1 Pac-10)
realistically held just three hours before. Silence became
confusion as the UCLA players wondered what they could have done to
prevent such a heart-wrenching fate.
“Today the players lost something that they can’t
ever get back, a shot at the national championship” UCLA head
coach Bob Toledo said.
What occurred during the first half couldn’t have played
out better for the Cardinal (5-1, 4-1 Pac-10). With the exception
of an early fumble returned for a touchdown by UCLA linebacker Ryan
Nece, the Stanford offense shot out of the gates like a well-oiled
drag racer while the UCLA offense was immobile and could not even
get into first gear.
DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Stanford, who had an
eight-minute advantage in time of possession at the end of the
first quarter, won the battle at the line of scrimmage
convincingly. This was largely due to the Stanford offensive line,
who dominated the Bruins during the first half and allowed
Stanford’s running back tandem of Brian Allen and Kerry
Carter to run at will, keeping the Bruin defense on the field.
The longer the Bruin defense remained on the field, the more
fatigued they were and the worse their tackling became. The
Stanford running backs kept their feet moving and continually broke
out the first tackle to gain the extra yards that the Bruin defense
does not characteristically give up.
“We missed a lot of tackles today, which we haven’t
done this year, and we turned the ball over, which got us into
trouble in the second quarter,” Toledo said.
In the second quarter, the Cardinal capitalized on a Foster
fumble with a 35-yard off tackle touchdown run by Allen on the next
play. The Cardinal added insult to Bruin injury by scoring yet
another touchdown in the quarter to end the half with a 28-7
score.
DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Stanford’s first-half dominance wounded the Bruin spirit.
But sometimes, a wounded animal is one that will fight the hardest
to survive.
With their backs against the wall, the Bruins came out of the
locker room determined to scratch and claw their way back into the
game.
The leader of the comeback effort changed at the half. UCLA
quarterback Cory Paus, who threw his first two interceptions of the
season in the first half, injured his right thumb and would not
return in the second half. Second string quarterback Scott McEwan
took Paus’ place and started off pretty much where Paus left
off. The first UCLA drive ended in poorly thrown ball that was
picked off by Stanford defensive end Louis Hobson.
After the ensuing Stanford field goal, McEwan began to breathe
some life into the comatose Bruin offense. He personally escorted
the Bruins on a 65-yard touchdown drive that brought the UCLA
offense its first touchdown of the game.
McEwan gave an encore touchdown performance one drive later when
he connected with UCLA tight end Mike Siedman on a 23-yard
touchdown pass, making the score 31-21.
The Bruins’ national championship hopes, which looked out
of reach at half time, were suddenly resurrected.
The Bruin defense played like a squad possessed in the second
half. The defensive charge was led by safety Marques Anderson,
whose second half interception gave life to the offense. McEwan
fumbled the ball away, but Anderson gave it right back to the
offense a few plays later. He hit Stanford receiver Ryan Wells with
a shoulder to the back, forcing him to cough up the ball.
McEwan, who finished with 221 yards in the second half, took
advantage of his second chance by launching a 29-yard touchdown
strike to UCLA tight end Brian Fletcher. The Bruins found
themselves down by three points when Stanford got the ball late in
the fourth quarter. Bruin freshman cornerback Matt Ware wasted no
time putting the ball back in McEwan’s hands, as he
intercepted Lewis’ next offering on the UCLA 39-yard line,
giving the offense 4:36 to score again.
Foster ran for four yards to set up a second and six. On the
next play, the right side of the Bruin line collapsed and McEwan
was sacked for a loss of ten. A short pass to Fletcher set up a
fourth-and-six on the UCLA 43.
McEwan dropped back and read his progression.
“There are three receivers involved in that play, one that
goes short, one that goes in to the middle and one that goes
deep,” McEwan said. “I read through my receiver
progressions and thought Ryan (Smith) was the most open
receiver.”
Smith ran the deep route. McEwan let the ball go, and Smith, who
separated his shoulder in the third quarter, sacrificed his body
and dove for the ball. He went completely horizontal and stretched
out his hands as far as they could go. The ball took flight and
landed a foot farther than Smith could reach. The Bruins turned the
ball over on downs, and Stanford scored on the next drive for the
game’s final score.
“We played our hearts out in the second half, but it
proved to be too little, too late,” UCLA receiver Craig Bragg
said.
The Bruins’ dreams of a national championship were
shattered. Amid the thousands of screaming Stanford fans, the Bruin
players, who put their hearts and soul on the field in the second
half, heard nothing but silence.