ARIZONA NEARLY BEATS FLAT UCLA BRUINS ESCAPE A FUNK IN THE DESERT UCLA 24, ARIZONA 21.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer TUCSON, Ariz. - The aroma, or stench, of a huge victory cigar didn't funkify UCLA's locker room, and there was no playful play·ful adj. 1. Full of fun and high spirits; frolicsome or sportive: a playful kitten. 2. banter and definitely no chest pounding. Instead, words like ``relief'' and ``escape'' were commonplace, enormous sighs were released and a feeling that 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 left the desert with something it didn't deserve saturated the perspiration-filled air. The Bruins' bullying Bullying Chowne, Parson Stoyle terrorizes parish; kidnaps children. [Br. Lit.: The Maid of Sker, Walsh Modern, 94–95] Claypole, Noah bully; becomes thief in Fagin’s gang. [Br. Lit. defense was pushed around, and the offense was unproductive. But thanks to defensive tackle Rodney Leisle's 55-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and Arizona's failed 28-yard field goal shortly thereafter, UCLA sneaked out with a 24-21 victory Saturday in front of 44,481 at Arizona Stadium . The victory wasn't secured until linebacker Justin London intercepted Costa near midfield in the final 20 seconds. UCLA (4-2, 2-0 Pacific-10) is tied for first in the conference, but after yielding 519 yards to an offense previously ranked last in the Division I-A in total yards the Bruins were feeling mighty fortunate. ``Coming into this game we were striving for perfection and trying to get everything tightened up and playing a great four quarters in every aspect of football - offense, defense and special teams,'' UCLA quarterback Drew Olson Drew Olson (born April 6, 1983 in San Francisco, California) is a former starting quarterback for the University of California, Los Angeles football team, where he broke many of UCLA's passing records. said. ``We failed on our objective, and we've got a lot of work to do. I think this might be a wake-up call. We're not as good as we may have thought.'' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell Karl Dorrell (born December 18, 1963 in Alameda, California) is the first black head coach in the history of the UCLA Bruins college football team, a position he took on December 18, 2002. spent a week telling everyone the Wildcats (1-6, 0-3) were a dangerous team, but very few listened. Even some of his players didn't buy into the pitfalls of facing a team that was last in the conference in almost every major offensive and defensive category and had undergone a head coaching change less than two weeks ago. ``Maybe we overlooked this team a little bit,'' London said. ``That might have been a problem for us in the first half.'' Asked if the Bruins stole this victory, Dorrell didn't hesitate. ``I feel like we did,'' he said. ``The concerns with a team like this when they've had the changes like they've had, there's a lot of things they can do to change their outlook of who they are.'' Part of the Bruins' defensive woes were traced to the firing of John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943 in Barberton, Ohio) is the head coach of the United States first national team for American football which was formed to compete in the American Football World Cup. and plenty of alterations to the offense by interim coach Mike Hankwitz Mike Hankwitz (born 1948 in Ludington, Michigan) played college football for The Michigan Wolverines. His head coaching stint was a 7-game interim stretch at The University of Arizona after John Mackovic was fired where he earned his career 1-6 record. . Arizona, which was averaging 248.1 yards per game and was outscored 102-0 in the first half of its past five games, confused UCLA in the first half by using two quarterbacks - Kris Heavner and Nic Costa - increasing the use of 2001 Pac-10 rushing leader Clarence Farmer (122 yards) and throwing the ball down the middle of the field. In return, the confounded Bruins surrendered 276 yards rushing. Arizona had six runs of at least 25 yards and led 21-10 at the half. ``The offensive line did a great job,'' Costa said. ``They opened huge holes. We could have driven semi-trucks through those holes.'' Olson led a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Manuel White's 5-yard run to pull UCLA within 21-17 with 11:17 left in the third quarter. Leisle, who scored his first career touchdown on a fumble recovery on the first play last week against Washington, did it again on the fourth play of the final quarter. Heavner was being pressured and tried to pitch the ball forward. It hit an offensive lineman in the shoulder, popped up to Leisle and the 6-foot-3, 289-pound senior caught the ball, saw nothing but green grass and goalposts, and outraced Arizona's offensive linemen to the end zone give the Bruins a 24-21 lead with 13:41 to play. ``Green, baby. Green means go, and I was gone,'' Leisle said. ``I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I had a bunch of blockers in front of me and I kept running. I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.'' The Wildcats, losers of six in a row, mounted a final drive that was keyed by Costa's 43-yard scramble to UCLA's 5-yard line midway through the quarter. Farmer fumbled out of bounds on the next play and Arizona eventually settled for a 28-yard field goal attempt. However, having watched place-kicker Bobby Gill Bobby Gill is a former NASCAR driver. He raced for a number of years in the Craftsman Truck Series, earning four top-tens in sixteen starts. Most of the starts came in 1996, when he started off with Spears Motorsports. miss 4 of 6 field goals this season, including a 32-yarder in the second quarter, Hankwitz called on freshman Nicholas Folk for his first collegiate col·le·giate adj. 1. Of, relating to, or held to resemble a college. 2. Of, for, or typical of college students. 3. Of or relating to a collegiate church. try. And Folk, of Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame High of Sherman Oaks, missed it by a few feet to the right with 5:28 remaining. ``I was hoping he'd miss it,'' Bruins free safety Ben Emanuel Benjamin F. Emanuel (born on June 18, 1982 in Texas City, Texas) is a player in the National Football League. He plays the free safety position. He went to UCLA. He attended Clear Brook High School. said. ``I was just tired of the back-and-forth. I wanted it over. When he did that, I was real happy.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) UCLA's Spencer Havner Spencer Rhett Havner (February 2, 1983 in Sacramento, CA) is a linebacker on the Green Bay Packers. High School Havner earned two varsity letters as an inside linebacker and tight end at Nevada Union High in Grass Valley, CA. drags down quarterback Kris Heavner during the Bruins' 24-21 victory. John Miller/Associated Press (2) UCLA running back Tyler Ebell drags Arizona defender Marcus Hollingsworth during a second-quarter touchdown run. Wily Low/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion