UCLA Wins It By a Yard

UCLA finally joined the Pacific 10 scramble Saturday night, but not before nearly getting scrambled again itself.

The defense was superb for most of the first half and Danny Farmer was the offensive star for all time, leading the Bruins to their first conference victory, a 34-29 victory over Oregon before 55,675 at the Rose Bowl that nearly included a blown 34-10 lead.

The Bruins, avoiding their first 0-3 Pac-10 start since 1994, thrived most of the way, then survived at the end. Their lead was cut to five points when Matt Smith had an 81-yard interception return for an Oregon touchdown, Keenan Howry caught a 44-yard scoring pass from A.J. Feeley and Reuben Droughns ran 11 yards for another touchdown.

UCLA, 3-3 overall, compounded matters when Chris Griffith had his second field goal try blocked of the night, a 33-yarder that could have provided a 37-29 advantage. But the Ducks (3-3, 1-2) missed three late opportunities to move ahead, one that ended on Eric Whitfield’s interception, one on downs with 1:40 left and the final one when Marshaun Tucker made a sliding catch at the one-yard line as time ran out.

It looked at the start as if UCLA’s defense was still feeling the effects of the heartbreaking defeat a week earlier at Arizona State, or even still playing at Arizona State. The loss in Tempe came as the Sun Devils made up a 14-0 deficit with ease in some cases, needing only four plays and 1:10 for a 58-yard scoring drive, one play and 14 seconds for an 80-yard touchdown and all of four plays and 30 seconds to go 80 yards with the game on the line.

So at least what transpired at the outset a week later at the Rose Bowl was not a surprise. The shock value came in that it was on the first drive, putting UCLA in an immediate hole and the UCLA in immediate disfavor with the very same fans the Bruins had hoped would be an asset.

Starting at its own 16, Oregon’s first play was a 33-yard pass from Feeley to split end Howry. The second was a 31-yard pass involving Howry, except that he threw it to tight end Enyi Nwamuo. The third was a 20-yard pass from Feeley to fullback Chad Chance, who got behind linebacker Tony White on the coverage.

Three plays.

Eighty-four yards.

One minute five seconds.

Oregon, 7-0.

But what happened next was even more stunning. UCLA took control because of the very same defense that was getting beat up on the field--10th in the conference in total defense at the start of the day, sixth in scoring defense--and getting worked over pretty good by public opinion too.

The Ducks scored once more the rest of the half, on an 18-yard field goal by Nathan Villegas, but even that was an accomplishment for the Bruins because Oregon took over on the UCLA 21 after Ryan Roques fumbled on a punt return and even had first and goal at the one before being denied. It was like that all the way until the 7-0 deficit had turned into a 20-10 lead at intermission, the offense and special teams having rough spots and the oft-maligned defense playing the rescuer.

Kenyon Coleman caused a fumble on the second Oregon possession, Ali Abdul Azziz recovered and returned it 28 yards to the Duck 20. But the Bruins wasted the opportunity because the offense couldn’t get any closer than the 17 and Griffith’s 36-yard field goal was blocked.

Griffith converted a 41-yard attempt early in the second quarter to get UCLA on the board, but Roques’ fumble followed when the Bruins had the chance to build momentum. Griffith hit from 48 yards out later in the half, the most encouraging sign for the Bruins that he had some distance to go with consistency, but that was after they needed eight plays and 2:59 to grind out 45 yards.

The defense took it from there. Oregon held a 10-6 advantage when Santi Hall blasted Feeley from the right side as the quarterback was looking left, causing a fumble that Billy Pieper recovered at the Duck 18. Three plays later, tailback Keith Brown swept around left end for a three-yard score, giving UCLA its first lead, 13-10, with 1:33 remaining before halftime.

The next Oregon possession lasted one play, before linebacker Marcus Reese intercepted Feeley’s pass over the middle, the first time Feeley had been picked off in 130 attempts and only the second time all season in 179 throws. Given the unexpected chance for another score before halftime, the Bruins took over on the Duck 33 with 1:22 left and capitalized with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Cory Paus to Farmer with :38 showing.

Farmer, despite tweaking his long-troublesome ankle, caught a 65-yard touchdown from Paus with 5:33 remaining in the third quarter for a 34-10 cushion, and already had a career-high 196 yards by the time the fourth quarter started.

That score from Paus, who passed for 324 yards, also gave Farmer the second-best receiving day in Bruin history, behind only the 263 yards by J.J. Stokes against USC in 1992.