UCLA Rises From The Dead In Win Over Cal

After the disaster that UCLA’s football team suffered through in Tucson, it was obvious that their season was on the line at the Rose Bowl vs. California, and that it was extremely imperative for the Bruins to come out and play with a chip on their shoulder.

And like they had something to prove – which they did.

Not only did Rick Neuheisel’s team do exactly that in their 31-14 win over the Cal Golden Bears before a Homecoming crowd of 55, 604 that was quiet and subdued at first, but grew electrified by what they saw as the game wore on and the Bruins showed their mettle, it was easily their best performance of the year, led by a defense that was much maligned all season and was pushed around like a girls’ powder puff team in Arizona.

“I’m proud of my team amidst a lot of hoopla this week…It’s just a great story of what can be done if you can block out some of the distractions”, Neuheisel said after the game.

Four interceptions, three of them by Tevin McDonald and one by Aaron Hester on Cal’s last drive, highlighted UCLA’s defensive effort, as were the six sacks of Bears quarterback Zach Maynard, two of them by Datone Jones in the 4th quarter; the Bruins forced five turnovers in all.

This was the first time that defensive coordinator Joe Tresey’s unit showed its potential, which was great to see at long last as the 14 points that the Bears scored were a result of a short field due to two Bruin turnovers – otherwise it could have been a shutout. Plus they kept the nation’s leading receiver, Keenan Allen, to 85 yards on seven catches.

A very good effort indeed.

As for the Bruins’ offense, that unit must have heard me when I stated, as one of the keys to the game, that the running backs had to get a hell of a lot more than the 37 total yards obtained in their last game….I think that their 294 yards on the ground more than took care of that key.

Kevin Prince did very well in running the pistol offense and was magnificent in running the ball himself, as the quarterback gained a game-high 163 yards on just 19 carries and got numerous first downs recovering quite nicely from his first quarter fumble that led to Cal’s first touchdown and a 7-0 lead, which was erased by Johnathan Franklin’s ten yard run to the end zone in the second quarter.

Prince wasn’t too bad in throwing the ball either, completing 9 of 18 passes for 92 yards and – very importantly – no interceptions.

Derrick Coleman solidified his status of Bruin super stud and Most Valuable Player (in my book) with his three touchdown runs of two, 15, and 24 yards among his 80 for the game, on 16 carries. The 15 and 24-yarders came in the 4th quarter, with the 24 yard run helping to put the nail in the Golden Bears’ coffin along with Hester’s pick.

That same 4th quarter saw a scare as defensive back Dietrich Riley, after colliding with a Cal running back, lay motionless on the field for several minutes. He needed a stretcher and a gurney to take him off the field amid applause from the fans and was taken to the hospital, where – thank goodness – he had movements in all his extremities and was released from the hospital on Sunday. “Everything checked out fine”, Neuheisel said.

This win by the Bruins was very satisfying not only because it saved Neuheisel’s job – at least for the time being – but also because it went a long way toward giving UCLA respect, as they were targets of ridicule in the college football community after what happened in their last outing.

It also showed how the Bruins, despite everything, played its heart out and showed tons of guts against Cal. They were a determined bunch of Bruins who refused to quit and were going to win by any means necessary, all without four prominent wide receivers and a defensive lineman who were suspended for the game, plus an offensive lineman who sat out the first half.

That’s what the Bruin Nation saw at the Rose Bowl on Saturday; it’s certainly what I saw.

And most of all, it showed once and for all how good the UCLA Bruins can be in football.

Oh, by the way – Jerry Rice Jr. caught a couple of passes, which for a walk-on that has never played in a real college game was a job well done.

Thanks to this win, I suppose I’ll expect all the fans who have savaged Neuheisel and the team, writing them off, to jump back on the bandwagon – at least for the next week.

NEXT OPPONENT: Arizona State Sun Devils, November 5th, Rose Bowl, 4:30 p.m.

For UCLA’s Bruins, after beating Cal in a convincing fashion, the difficult part in the aftermath is maintaining that positive momentum and showing everybody that the win over their older Berkeley brothers wasn’t a lucky fluke.

Being that the Arizona State Sun Devils, who are currently leading the Pac-12 Southern Division, on the fast track to the Pac-12 Conference’s inaugural championship game on December 2nd, and are the Bruins’ upcoming opponent, that will be no easy task.

At all, as these Sun Devils from Tempe are good.

Very good.

Top 25-level good, as they are ranked 20th in the AP poll and 19th in the BCS poll.

So good that I pegged this game to be the Bruins’ toughest outside of USC before the season began.

Two players stand out for ASU, that have given UCLA fits and will provide a major challenge this coming Saturday…

Brock Ostweiler established himself as the Sun Devil quarterback the last time his and UCLA’s teams met, when he came off the bench to put up a 55 spot on the Bruins and ended whatever post season hopes they had.

Against Colorado last Saturday, Ostweiler threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-14 rout. On the season, he’s completed 68% of his passes for 2,275 yards and 17 TDs – that’s what Joe Tresey’s defense has to face.

The other standout player for Arizona State is the perfect combination of monster and beast: linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who’s the key to the Sun Devils’ defense with his vicious hit and wild man-style of play. His four sacks and six tackles for loss lead coach Dennis Erickson’s team, and the Bruins need to be very conscious and concerned of him.

Believe it or not, UCLA can tie ASU for the lead in the Pac-12 South with a win, so this will be a big game for the Bruins, and an important test to gauge where they are at against one of the conference’s best teams.

There will also likely be a considerably bigger crowd at the Rose Bowl than the just over 55,000 that saw UCLA beat Cal.

If Neuheisel and his Bruin bunch can pull this one off, they just may be on the way back.