UCLA: CORNERED: VAN HAS TOUGH DAY SENIOR HAS HANDS FULL WITH COUGARS RECEIVERS, GETS BENCHED LATE IN GAME.Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer PASADENA -- Rodney Van was a lonely man on the Rose Bowl field. He wasn't alone in the locker Things commonly known as lockers include:
The normally steady 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 cornerback cor·ner·back also corner back n. Football Either of two defensive halfbacks stationed a short distance behind the linebackers and relatively near the sidelines. Noun 1. was burned for three touchdowns in a 37-15 drubbing by Washington State and then benched in favor of upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. See also: favor true freshman True freshman is a term used in NCAA sports, indicating that an athlete is playing the sport in his first year of college, rather than redshirting for one or more years to protect future college eligibility. Alterraun Verner. This was not Van's day, from start to finish, although he didn't finish it. As Van sat in front of his locker with his head down, teammates consoled him. He credited Washington State receivers Jason Hill and Brandon Gibson with making plays. ``It was me falling down on a couple of plays and giving up a couple of touchdowns,'' Van said. ``Not to take credit away from them, but they just made plays. They threw the ball up, and they made the plays.'' Gibson had eight catches for 92 yards and two scores, and Hill had five receptions for 115 yards and one score. Van easily could have ducked out of the locker room to avoid answering to his teammates or the media, but he didn't. Still, it couldn't have been easy. No one knows this better than another cornerback. ``If cornerback was easy, everyone would do it,'' Bruins cornerback Trey Brown said. ``You're going to have days like that. He's a great corner. It just comes down to when we have opportunities, we've got to make them. We have to take this game and learn from it.'' On third-and-goal from the 6 early in the second quarter, Washington quarterback Alex Brink Alex Brink (June 2, 1985- ) is a 6-foot-3, 207 pound senior quarterback at Washington State. Through his junior campaign, Brink has completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 7,095 yards. He has thrown 50 touchdowns and 28 interceptions. His quarterback efficiency rating is 131.78. hit Gibson on a rollout for a touchdown. Brink connected with Hill on a 17-yard touchdown -- not even four minutes later -- on which Van was called for pass interference In American football and Canadian football, pass interference is when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. , which was declined. Hill figured UCLA was worried about him as a deep threat, so that meant Gibson was left alone with just the corner -- mostly Van -- to beat on some occasions. ``They were bringing the safety over a little, which surprised me,'' Hill said. ``I haven't been doing as well this year, so I was surprised, but we took advantage of those opportunities.'' In the third quarter, Gibson made a catch in the middle of the field, and Van fell. Gibson cruised to the end zone and dove over the goal line for a 17-yard score. Van remained in the game, but after Washington State's first play on its next possession, he gave up a 34-yard pass play to Hill, and his night was done. ``We didn't execute some plays, but most of the time we were in good position,'' Verner said. Late in the game, Brown reacted to an incomplete pass An incomplete pass is a term in American football which means that a legal forward pass hits the ground before a player on either team gains possession. For example, if the quarterback throws the ball to one of his wide receivers, and the receiver either does not touch it, or tries with no penalty by saying to the official: ``That was a hell of a call. I love when I get to play.'' Brown later said he was just playing with the referees. Van made six tackles Sataurday and had one pass deflection deflection /de·flec·tion/ (de-flek´shun) deviation or movement from a straight line or given course, such as from the baseline in electrocardiography. de·flec·tion n. 1. , but that was it for his highlights. ``It was just a bad game,'' Van said. ``Today was just about some unfortunate plays.'' jill.painter@dailynews.com (818) 713-3615 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: UCLA cornerback Rodney Van, right, can't keep Washington State's Brandon Gibson from making a leaping catch. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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