PASADENA “”mdash; Randall Carroll was clapping as he came off the field, even though the game was still tied, and he was clapping even though the clock read zero. He was clapping because the gold No. 1 on his jersey might as well have stood for the number of seconds he knew were left on the clock. He was clapping because he knew he had set up his kicker for a potential game-winning field goal.
“I knew how much time I had left,” Carroll said. “The whole time I was counting in my head. When they said we were going to overtime, I knew that wasn’t right, and I was going over to tell coach to challenge, but he already did.”
Kai Forbath’s 51-yard field goal on the subsequent play traveled through the uprights as time expired to give UCLA a 17-14 victory over Oregon State. The fateful kick was set up when Carroll caught an 11-yard pass and was able to get out-of-bounds. The ball was snapped with four seconds left, and the clock ticked down to zero as the sophomore receiver reached the sideline. Although the initial ruling was that regulation was over, a challenge by UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel led to the referees reviewing and overturning the call to give Forbath and the Bruins a final shot at victory.
“I had called for a quick out,” Neuheisel said. “We had four seconds ““ we’ve timed it in practice that you can get out-of-bounds in three.”
For Forbath, the third time proved to be quite the charm. The redshirt senior kicker missed two field goals earlier in the game, including one that seemed like it would really hurt ““ a 46-yarder with 1:17 to go that would have given the Bruins a three-point lead. But the UCLA defense then forced a critical three-and-out, and the offense moved the ball 49 yards in 47 seconds ““ that were very nearly 48 ““ to set up Forbath for his game-winner.
“I’ve always wanted one of those,” Forbath said. “It’s tough missing, so I wanted another opportunity and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get one. When it looked like I was going to, I just had to completely forget about the miss and only think about making the next one.”
Up until the final second, this was a game that seemed destined for overtime. The two teams exchanged blows throughout the game, with neither side ever really gaining a stranglehold.
UCLA marched down the field on its first drive of the game and got a 7-yard touchdown run from quarterback Richard Brehaut. Oregon State later responded when quarterback Ryan Katz hit tight end Joe Halahuni for a 28-yard scoring strike.
The sequence was reversed in the second half, as Markus Wheaton scored from 22 yards out on a reverse to give the Beavers their first lead, only to see the Bruins counter with a nine-minute, 28-second drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run from Johnathan Franklin.
With Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers getting all the positive publicity entering the contest, it was the UCLA running game that was able to dictate much of the tempo. Franklin gained 100 yards in 23 carries, and Brehaut, known more as a passer than a runner, carried the ball 18 times for 61 yards, including a number of plays in which he had to improvise.
“He played great, he won the game,” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said of his quarterback. “He handled things very well. He did a nice job.”
Meanwhile, the defense proved just unyielding enough against the Beavers’ offense. Freshman Jordan Zumwalt, thrust into the starting job at middle linebacker, led the team with nine tackles, including a sack of Katz that took Oregon State out of field-goal range in the second quarter. Zumwalt’s running mates, Akeem Ayers and Sean Westgate, each came up with huge sacks of their own.
“I take my hat off to our defense,” Neuheisel said. “I thought they were spectacular. It was as good as they’ve played since the Texas game and hopefully something we can really build on.”
Once the thrill of a last-second victory begins to settle, the Bruins can better appreciate the long-term repercussions of their victory. Now with four wins to its credit, UCLA is two away from reaching the coveted six-win plateau needed to gain bowl eligibility. The Bruins have three games remaining: a pair on the road at Washington and Arizona State and the regular-season finale against USC at the Rose Bowl.
“We needed that win real bad,” Forbath said. “It is going to help our team’s momentum and give us more opportunities going into the next one.”
Things seemed fated to go Oregon State’s way when Forbath missed his second field goal of the contest. But the final two minutes were almost a microcosm of the entire contest. The UCLA defense pulled out a critical stop, and the offense was able to do just enough, enough to give the current holder of the Lou Groza Award (given to best kicker in the country) a final shot. After missing wide right and missing wide left, all he needed to do was straighten things out.
“Death, taxes and Forbath, those are the three things in life you can count on,” Neuheisel said.
Three out of three in Neuheisel’s book. In Forbath’s, one out of three doesn’t feel too bad either.