When the story of UCLA’s 2010 season is recounted, everyone may very well remember, remember the sixth of November. Not for any world-shocking antics that the Bruins may have pulled off, but rather as the day that a second-straight postseason berth, and a tangible sign of progress in the program, ominously teetered.
UCLA hosts Oregon State on Saturday, needing to win at least three of its last four games to secure the six wins needed for a bowl berth.
“You have to look at this one as a great way to jump-start the three wins we need,” wide receiver Taylor Embree said. “We need this to set the tempo.”
The biggest test for UCLA (3-5, 1-4 Pac-10) will be a “Quizz”, as in Jacquizz Rodgers, the Beavers’ heart and soul, who leads the team with 13 touchdowns. The 5-foot-7-inch junior running back has scored at least one touchdown in every game this season, and has at least three in each of his last two games. UCLA kept him out of the end zone in last season’s matchup, but he did pile up 112 yards on the ground and 92 in the receiving game.
“He’s a great back,” defensive tackle Nate Chandler said. “But we have some great backs on the scout teams and we’ve faced some great backs. Stopping him will come down to film-study and hard work.”
While Jacquizz will certainly get his fair share of touches, UCLA won’t have to contend with the other half of the Rodgers brothers ““ senior wide receiver James Rodgers is out for the season with a knee injury.
On the offensive side of the ball, UCLA will continue to focus on the development of sophomore quarterback Richard Brehaut ““ and, by extension, the passing game.
“He’s taken the leadership role in the huddle,” Embree said of Brehaut. “He’s controlling the offense, and he’s right where we need him to be. He’s going to be ready to play.”
Brehaut has already completed more passes on the season than his predecessor Kevin Prince, an indicator that the Bruins have become more of a pass-happy bunch in recent weeks. That hasn’t necessarily been the plan, as the rushing attack that dominated during UCLA’s three-game winning streak is being asked to rejuvenate itself.
“We haven’t had that game yet this year where everything’s working all at once,” Brehaut said. “We definitely need to find that, and we need to find it quickly.”
One of the primary reasons that the Bruins haven’t been as effective on the ground in recent contests is that they have fallen behind early and have been forced to play catch-up through the air. It’s the same problem that plagued them last year in Corvallis, Ore., when Oregon State built a 19-3 lead and was able to hold off a late Bruin rally.
“We just have to finish,” Chandler said. “That comes down to execution.”
Execution could be the operative word for the Bruins as they hit the home stretch of their schedule with little margin for error. This talented but inconsistent bunch knows it has its work cut out for it, not that the man in charge is ready to bottle up his trademark optimism.
“We’re not far away,” coach Rick Neuheisel said. “I really believe we’re going to find a formula in this last month and be a good-looking football team.”