DEFENSE DRAWS A BLANK UCLA 21, STANFORD 0.Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer PASADENA - Even in hindsight, the notion seems preposterous. UCLA's linebackers gathered for a pregame meeting Saturday, and a key motivational point was getting the school's first Pacific-10 conference The Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I. Membership Full members shutout in more than 17 years. 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 inside linebacker Justin London swears there were no smiles, no winks, no sly nods of the head. Also lost on so many folks inside the Bruins' locker room was also the fact that this defense had allowed 93 points and 1,086 yards the previous two weeks. By the time the sun set on the Rose Bowl, UCLA's defense was back on campus, or at a party, or resting with family and friends, and talking about perhaps the biggest shocker shock·er n. One that startles, shocks, or horrifies, as a sensational story or novel. Noun 1. shocker - a shockingly bad person bad person - a person who does harm to others 2. the conference has seen this season. The surprise wasn't UCLA ending a two-game losing streak, but rather the conference's worst defense yielding a season low in yards and a century low in points by shutting down Stanford 21-0 in front of a disappointingly small homecoming crowd of 54,021. It is UCLA's first shutout since a 44-0 beating of Northeast Louisiana on Sept. 14, 1996. More remarkably, it is the Bruins' first conference shutout since a 49-0 thrashing of Stanford on Oct. 3, 1987. ``We talked about it before the game, that the last shutout was '87,'' London said. ``That's a stat that we know, and we're glad we ended the streak right now - 2004.'' UCLA (5-3, 3-2 Pac-10) is in the upper half of the league standings and is within a win of bowl eligibility heading into next week's game against struggling Washington State. More importantly, though, all the talk of past late-season collapses was pushed to the backdrop, and the ghost of the five-game losing streak that punctuated coach Karl Dorrell's first season seems gone. After all, that steak began with an upset loss last season at Stanford. ``Is that a great victory or what?'' Dorrell said. ``I'll take that. That was a great response (from) this team. (There) was a lot of doubt in a lot of people's minds about this team and this program.'' While UCLA's secondary covered Stanford's bigger receivers and linebackers 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. and London made tackles like it was 2003, it was the Bruins' oft-maligned defensive line that set the tone. UCLA's front four was able to pressure Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards Trent Edwards (born October 30, 1983, in Los Gatos, California) is an American football quarterback who starts for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Stanford. , hitting him repeatedly or forcing him to scramble. He was sacked twice and ran nine times. He also threw three interceptions while completing 24 of 46 passes for 224 yards. ``This is just a great boost of confidence, not just for our defense but for our offense as well,'' UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis This article is about the American football player. For the American businessman, see Bruce Davis (video game industry). Bruce Davis (born June 21, 1956, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina) is a former professional American football player. said. ``For them to know that if we don't score, we're going to go out and hold the opposing team, it's big. You could tell when we were on the field, in the huddle, talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to coaches, we had our swagger. We had the swagger that we had in the beginning when we won a couple of games in a row.'' Nothing that transpired on Saturday afternoons this fall suggested Stanford, which was fifth in the league and averaging a respectable 26.6 points per game, would have this much difficulty on offense. The Bruins ranked 108th in total defense and were allowing 451.8 yards per game, but a painfully predictable Stanford offense totaled 307 yards. UCLA confused Stanford by altering its defensive game plan. The Bruins blitzed blitzed adj. Slang Drunk or intoxicated. far less than previous games and allowed their safeties to help their cornerbacks in coverage. ``Our cornerbacks, our defensive line, they played so good,'' Bruins strong safety Jarrad Page Jarrad Page (born October 19, 1984) was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 7th round of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played for UCLA in his collegiate career. Before attending UCLA, Page grew up in San Leandro, California, attending San Leandro High School, where Page was the top said. ``We knew we could play like this. It was a matter of maintaining it. (Edwards) said our secondary did a great job, that every time he dropped back, there was nobody to throw it to.'' UCLA was also 111th in rushing defense, but the 83 yards Stanford managed on the ground were 154 less than the average of the Bruins' first seven opponents. ``I thought we'd be able to run the ball effectively,'' Stanford 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 Bill Cubit Bill Cubit (born October 14, 1953 in Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania) is currently the head coach of the Western Michigan University Broncos football team. His last name (surname) is pronounced "Q-Bit". said. ``They took away our vertical passing game.'' UCLA didn't get much offense and didn't need it. Manuel White's 2-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and Maurice Drew's 68-yard punt return In American and Canadian football a punt return is one of the punt receiving team's options to respond to a punt. A player (usually a second or third string wide receiver or running back) positioned many yards from the line of scrimmage will attempt to catch or pick up the ball early in the second quarter gave the Bruins a 14-0 lead. By the time Bruins 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. rolled out and completed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Drew with 11:52 remaining to give UCLA a 21-0 advantage, the only interesting morsel mor·sel n. 1. A small piece of food. 2. A tasty delicacy; a tidbit. 3. A small amount; a piece: a morsel of gossip. 4. was whether Stanford would run any plays inside UCLA's 20-yard line. That happened in the closing minutes when Edwards connected with tight end Alex Smith for 71 yards to UCLA's 8-yard line but the Bruins held. ``I'm not at all surprised in how (the defense) played,'' Dorrell said. ``They're all very capable players. They're young and they're getting better and they're kicking in at the right time.'' Brian Dohn, (818) 713-3607 brian.dohn(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Maurice Drew returns a punt 68 yards in the second quarter for a touchdown, one of two scores on the day for the UCLA sophomore. (2) UCLA linebacker Spencer Havner lowers the boom on Stanford's Mark Bradford on Saturday. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer Box: DIFFERENCE A GAME MAKES |
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