TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; As the game unfolded on the field, you couldn’t help but notice that the Bruins were following the same script that they have all year.
UCLA’s quick start was oddly reminiscent of last week at Washington. The ASU spread offense wreaking havoc on the UCLA secondary unfolded just like the matchup against the Huskies.
The final result? That wasn’t anything new, either.
Arizona State rolled over UCLA by a score of 55-34 Friday at Sun Devil Stadium. The loss sealed up a losing season for the Bruins (4-7, 2-6 Pac-10) and eliminated them from bowl-game contention.
“I don’t know where to begin,” junior linebacker Sean Westgate said.
The beginning probably is the best place to start, because that’s when it was brightest for the Bruins.
They effortlessly drove down the field on the first drive of the game, which was capped by a 12-yard touchdown run by sophomore quarterback Richard Brehaut. UCLA then turned a blocked punt by sophomore safety Dalton Hilliard into another three points and a fumble recovery by sophomore safety Alex Mascarenas into another touchdown, all with little resistance by ASU (5-6, 3-5).
The 46-yard bomb from Brehaut to sophomore wide receiver Randall Carroll put the Bruins up 17-0 with 2:33 to play in the first, but that was as big as the lead would get.
Maybe it’s because they awoke a sleeping giant on the Sun Devil sideline.
Brock Osweiler, called into duty to replace injured ASU starting quarterback Steven Threet, found his rhythm and soon enough, the rout was on. The 6-foot-8-inch sophomore led his team to three touchdowns before halftime, giving the Sun Devils a 21-20 lead they would not relinquish.
“Osweiler, when he came in, we couldn’t find a formula to stop him,” coach Rick Neuheisel said.
They say it’s a game of inches, and a couple of inches here and there could have changed UCLA’s fortunes in the second half.
Down 24-20, junior wide receiver Nelson Rosario was stopped just short of the goal line on third-and-goal. The Bruins called upon “JetSki,” redshirt sophomore running back Johnathan Franklin, to punch it in from inside the one-yard line, but he went straight into the ASU defensive line and was stuffed.
UCLA still had a chance to put points on the board after the ball was turned over, but Westgate barely missed out on wrapping up ASU sophomore running back Cameron Marshall in the end zone. Three plays later, Marshall took a carry 71 yards for a touchdown, which made it 31-20.
The failed fourth-down conversion by UCLA’s offense proved to be the turning point of the game.
“We were hoping JetSki was going to jump, that’s why JetSki was in the game. … I don’t know why he didn’t do it,” Neuheisel said.
“At this point of the season, that’s not something that can happen,” Brehaut added. “We have to get a foot to score and go up by three.”
Brehaut gave the Bruins a glimmer of hope after his touchdown pass to Rosario brought them within four with 1:25 remaining in the third, but their bowl eligibility hopes were all but lost on the feet of Jamal Miles. The Sun Devil sophomore wide receiver ran the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown to put ASU up 38-27.
ASU continued to pour it on late, led by the arm of Osweiler. He finished 27-of-36 for 380 yards and four touchdowns, and the 55 points scored by ASU were the second-most put up on UCLA all year, just after Oregon’s 60.
The loss comes with broader implications. Namely, that Neuheisel in three years has been able to get to a postseason game only once, and that came last year when the team went 6-6.
“This is a little bit of a setback,” Neuheisel said, “but I think when the dust settles, we’ll look and see exactly why we took this step back and what we could have done to avoid it, and we’ll be a better program for it.”