A CHARMED LIFE; UCLA DODGES DISASTER AGAIN ON LATE TD PASS : UCLA 41, OREGON ST. 34.Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer The public address announcer gave the catch to Danny Farmer Danny Farmer, born 1977, is a former National Football League and University of California, Los Angeles wide receiver.[1] In 2000, he was drafted in the fourth round (103) by the Pittsburgh Steelers. , but there was no mistaking UCLA's latest hero. ``I knew I was open, and I wanted to make sure I looked it in,'' receiver Brad Melsby said of his 61-yard touchdown catch with 21 seconds remaining, which gave the Bruins a 41-34 victory over Oregon State before 26,017 Saturday at Parker Stadium. The play capped a wild final sequence in which the Bruins took a three-point lead with 1:17 left on Chris Sailer's 30-yard field goal, then watched it disappear 46 seconds later on Jose Cortez' 28-yard kick. The Beavers tried an ill-advised pooch kick, giving UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX possession at its 39. On the first play, quarterback Cade McNown Cade McNown (born January 12 1977 in Portland, Oregon) is a quarterback who played in the National Football League. He attended played college football at the University of California, Los Angeles. found Melsby down the right sideline for the most improbable play since . . . since Stanford's fumble last week. ``We were not going for a small chunk, we were going for a chunk,'' UCLA coach Bob Toledo Bob Toledo (born March 4, 1946, in San Jose, California) is an American football coach, recently hired as head coach at Tulane University. He is best-known as the thirteenth head coach at UCLA. said of the pass to Melsby. ``It was a three-level pass, with deep, intermediate and short routes. Brad ran past the (cornerback).'' The latest episode in UCLA's season on the edge featured the usual characters and plot turns: porous defense, wild momentum swings, trick plays, fourth-quarter heroics and a slew of big plays by McNown, who passed for 377 yards and four touchdowns and directed the Bruins to 24 points in the final 16 minutes. The Bruins (8-0, 6-0) covered the emotional spectrum as they shuffled to their locker room. Athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic Peter Dalis shook his head in amazement. Cornerback Jason Bell Jason Dewande Bell (born April 1, 1978 in Long Beach, California) is an American football cornerback in the NFL for the New York Giants. He played college football at UCLA. let out a massive, echoing sigh of relief. Offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator typically refers to the coach on a football team in the National Football League or College football who is in charge of the offense. This position aids the head coach by designing and scripting plays, delegating work to offensive position coaches during Al Borges Alan Borges (born October 8, 1955 in Salinas, California) is an American college football coach and the current offensive coordinator of the Auburn University football team. joked, ``They keep getting easier,'' and showed his laminated play sheet - on which he had scripted UCLA's overtime plays. They were that close. Again. ``God must be with us,'' kicker Chris Sailer Sail´er n. 1. A sailor. 2. A ship or other vessel; - with qualifying words descriptive of speed or manner of sailing; as, a heavy sailer; a fast sailer s>. said. The Bruins, who won their 18th consecutive game, now need one victory - either Saturday in Seattle, or Nov. 21 against USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. - to clinch the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl berth. Their sights are higher, of course: the Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Tostitos tortilla chips (a Frito-Lay product), is a United States college football game played annually since 1971. Originally, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium where it remained until 2006. . But to get there, they must solve several ongoing problems. Oregon State's modest offense not only gained 491 yards, but moved the ball at will in the second half (286 yards) against a UCLA defense that seems to regress REGRESS. Returning; going back opposed to ingress. (q.v.) each week. Saturday, the Bruins made OSU's reserve tailback, Jason Dandridge, look like the Pac-10's best runner. He gained 130 yards and averaged eight yards per carry. ``We gave up way too many big plays,'' Toledo said. UCLA's kicking game remains troublesome, as well. Sailer had another field goal blocked, and Oregon State gained 206 yards in kickoff returns. The Bruins continually kicked to Beavers speedster speed·ster n. 1. One who drives very fast. 2. A fast car. Tim Alexander Tim "Herb" Alexander (born April 10, 1965 in Cherry Point, North Carolina) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Primus. Tim played on the Primus recordings Suck on This, Frizzle Fry, Sailing the Seas of Cheese, , and almost paid for it with their season. Alexander's 38-yard return, combined with Tod McBride's late-hit penalty, helped Oregon State tie the game on Cortez' field goal with 33 seconds left. But as Borges scripted his overtime plays, McNown hit Melsby. The Bruins celebrated, then stuffed Oregon State's last chance. ``We've been through this the last four weeks, and it's nerve-racking,'' fullback Durell Price said. ``But championship teams know deep down they're going to win. You have to deal with adversity and just know you're going to come out on top.'' The Beavers opened the third-quarter with an impressive nine-play touchdown drive. They mixed their runs and passes effectively, gaining yards each time. On second down at UCLA's 40, quarterback Jonathan Smith Jonathan Smith may refer to several people:
UCLA's offense sputtered, as McNown threw behind Brian Poli-Dixon on third down, and the resurgent re·sur·gent adj. 1. Experiencing or tending to bring about renewal or revival. 2. Sweeping or surging back again. Adj. 1. Beavers gained possession at their 35. After two passes to Alexander, they were at midfield. With the Bruins staggering, OSU (Open Source UNIX) Refers to the Unix variants that are maintained as open source, which were primarily BSD Unix and Linux until Sun made its Solaris operating system open source in 2005. shifted to its ground game. Dandridge ran twice - busting the second around left end for a 33-yard touchdown run. Suddenly, the Beavers led 24-17. On the ensuing play, Farmer bobbled a long pass from McNown and OSU's Armon Hatcher picked it off. This time, though, UCLA's defense held its ground, forcing the Beavers to punt after three plays. Given a second chance, McNown pounced. He rolled left, spotted open field, then broke two tackles and raced 30 yards to OSU's 33. Two plays later, McNown pitched right to Jermaine Lewis, drifted into the left flat, then caught a return pass from Lewis. The Bruins had practiced the trick play for weeks, and it worked as designed. McNown ran 22 yards to the Beavers 4, then hit Farmer for a touchdown pass that tied the game 24-24 late in the third quarter. McNown saved his best pass of the game for the fourth quarter, rolling right and hitting Farmer for 14 yards on third-and-9. He ran the option for 9 yards, then pitched left to Lewis for a first-down run. At OSU's 43, McNown hit Farmer on a 20-yard post pattern. Farmer turned it into more when he broke Andrae Holland's tackle and raced into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown. UCLA vs. OREGON STATE: A CLOSER LOOK THE HERO UCLA receiver Brad Melsby, whose 61-yard touchdown catch with 21 seconds left was the game winner. THE GOAT Oregon State's coaching staff, which ordered a pooch kick with 31 seconds left, giving UCLA fabulous field position for Melsby's catch. STAT OF THE GAME The teams combined for 1,014 yards. UCLA gained 523, while OSU had 491. QUOTE OF THE GAME ``We're a team with a bullseye An established reference point from which the position of an object can be referenced. See also reference point. . Everybody plays their best game against us, gives us their best shot because we have an 18-game winning streak and we lead the Pac-10.'' - UCLA coach Bob Toledo NOTEBOOK: Buckeyes' loss has only small effect on Bruins The news shocked everyone in Parker Stadium except the people it affected most. UCLA learned of No. 1 Ohio State's loss to Michigan State late in the first quarter and they did not flinch, much less celebrate. ``We didn't say, `Yea, they lost,' because we know we're in control of our own destiny,'' fullback Durell Price said. ``If we're 11-0, we deserve to be in the Fiesta Bowl, and we'll be there. It didn't matter that Ohio State lost, because we still had to beat Oregon State.'' The Buckeyes' stunning defeat has massive repercussions repercussions npl → répercussions fpl repercussions npl → Auswirkungen pl in the Bowl Championship Series race. Now there are three unbeatens with a realistic chance for the Fiesta Bowl: UCLA, Kansas State and Tennessee. The Bruins were third in last week's BCS (1) (The British Computer Society, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, www.bcs.org) The chartered body for information technology professionals in the U.K., founded in 1957. rankings - behind Ohio State and Tennessee - and they'll probably be No. 2 when the new poll is announced Monday afternoon. ``We're back in the driver's seat,'' Bruins receiver Brian Poli-Dixon said. But as they celebrated a 41-34 victory over Oregon State, the Bruins seemed to care as little about the BCS poll this weekend as they did last week, or two weeks ago. ``I don't care one way or another,'' quarterback Cade McNown said. ``Whether we're No. 5 or No. 1, it doesn't matter until the dust settles.'' Down and out: Poli-Dixon had a career-high nine catches, many coming on short outs and hitch patterns in front of the defensive backs. ``To tell you the truth, we haven't run many hitches all season, this season or last season,'' he said. ``It seems like they were giving us the hitch, but we really didn't have a game plan for it. It was just open. They didn't do anything to prevent it.'' Thanks for the time: Kicker Chris Sailer said the Beavers did exactly as he hoped by calling a timeout before his 30-yard field goal with the score tied 31-31 and 1:17 remaining. ``I was happy,'' he said. ``It gave me time to get set. I kicked well in practice, I'm feeling healthy and it was just a matter of putting it through.'' Trick for a treat: The Bruins practiced this week's trick play for two weeks and waited for just the right time to use it. Trailing 24-17, with second down at OSU's 26, offensive coordinator Al Borges gave the signal: McNown pitched right to Jermaine Lewis, who passed to McNown on the left side. He ran 22 yards to the 4. ``It was four yards too wide,'' coach Bob Toledo said. ``We were supposed to score.'' Short stuff: DeShaun Foster's touchdown gave him six for the season, a school record for true freshmen. Receiver Brad Melsby and tight end Ryan Neufeld had their first touchdown catches of the season. Cornerback Ryan Roques led UCLA with 13 tackles, but several came when he was trailing receivers after the catch. - Jon Wilner CAPTION(S): 4 Photos, Box PHOTO (1--Color) UCLA's Cade McNown unloads a touchdown pass to Ryan Neufeld under pressure from Bryan Jones. Don Ryan/Associated Press (2) Running back DeShaun Foster and the Bruins had a difficult time shaking Oregon State. John Gress/Associated Press (3) UCLA's Keith Brown makes it through the hole but into the waiting arms of Oregon State's Jonathon Jackson. Don Ryan/Associated Press (4) POLI-DIXON BOX: UCLA vs. OREGON STATE: A CLOSER LOOK (see text) |
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