SUN BOWL GAME REPORT

By HOUSTON MITCHELL

Dec. 30, 2000 12 AM PT

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1st QUARTER

UCLA 10

Wisconsin 7

THE SCORING: * Wisconsin 7, UCLA 0: Lee Evans, 54-yard pass from Brooks Bollinger at 13:16. 80-yard drive, four plays. PAT--Vitaly Pisetsky (kick).

* UCLA 7, Wisconsin 7: Freddie Mitchell, 64-yard pass from Cory Paus at 11:14. 75 yards, four plays. PAT--Chris Griffith (kick).

* UCLA 10, Wisconsin 7: Griffith, 31-yard field goal at 5:48. 51 yards, 11 plays.

TURNING POINT: It appeared UCLA had a touchdown when Brian Poli-Dixon outjumped two Badger defenders to catch a 23-yard pass in the front corner of the end zone. Actually, it appeared that way only to the side judge, who missed Poli-Dixon dropping the ball. He signaled a touchdown but his officiating brethren rushed over to tell him of Poli-Dixon’s drop and the call was reversed. The Bruins, seeming deflated, had to settle for a field goal.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: The Bruins’ opponents have scored first in 11 of 12 games this season. That’s how a good team finishes 6-6. Also, CBS analyst Todd Blackledge let us know, “If UCLA doesn’t have the ball, they can’t score.” Thanks for that tip, Todd.

STAT WATCH: One quarter, two big receptions for touchdowns. At this point, it looked as if each team would score at least 35 points.

2nd QUARTER

UCLA 17

Wisconsin 7

THE SCORING: * UCLA 17, Wisconsin 7: DeShaun Foster, seven-yard run at 3:53. 45 yards, six plays. PAT--Griffith (kick).

TURNING POINT: The Bruins went into halftime with only a 10-point lead, and with their defense, that’s almost the same as being tied. The offense seemed out of sync for much of the game.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: The stadium became a library whenever UCLA had the ball. The few Bruin fans who were in the stands didn’t make much noise, allowing the thousands of Wisconsin fans to catch up on their sleep.

STAT WATCH: Hey, the Bruins went a quarter without giving up a point. Early research suggests that last happened during the Roosevelt administration. Teddy Roosevelt. The big stat from the quarter: Blackledge mentioned that UCLA Coach Bob Toledo and Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez were “good friends” about 1,000 times.

3rd QUARTER

UCLA 20

Wisconsin 14

THE SCORING: * UCLA 20, Wisconsin 7: Griffith, 25-yard field goal at 9:15. 65 yards, 13 plays.

* UCLA 20, Wisconsin 14: Chris Chambers four-yard touchdown pass from Bollinger. PAT--Pisetsky (kick).

TURNING POINT: There were a couple. The Bruins put together a 65-yard drive, taking almost seven minutes off the clock, and got only three points. They can usually score three touchdowns in that span. Also, Paus stayed on the sideline because of a broken collarbone, putting Scott McEwan at quarterback. The offense plays with much more confidence when Paus is in the game.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Toledo’s attempt to trick the Badgers failed. On first and 10 from the Badger 37, the Bruins ran a reverse, with Mitchell stopping to pass. No one was open, and Mitchell was sacked, killing UCLA’s momentum. As they did throughout the game, the Badgers made the big play when it counted, and seemed to know what Toledo was planning at all times.

STAT WATCH: Bruins had the ball for almost 10 minutes in the quarter, but were outscored, 7-3.

4th QUARTER

Wisconsin 21

UCLA 20

THE SCORING: * Wisconsin 21, UCLA 20: Michael Bennett, six-yard run at 8:52. PAT--Pisetsky (kick). 70 yards, 12 plays.

TURNING POINT: Bruin kicker Griffith trotted onto the field to try a 49-yard field goal on fourth and three with 12:30 to play. Everyone in the stadium, and all those watching at home, said to themselves “fake.” Guess what. It was a fake, and it didn’t work. Griffith ran for about two yards before the entire Badger defense tackled him. Wisconsin, getting the ball in good field position, then marched downfield and scored the game’s final points.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: After five seasons at UCLA, Toledo is 35-23 and 1-2 in bowl games. Also, there are few things more boring than watching an 8-4 team take on a 6-5 team in a meaningless game.

STAT WATCH: Foster rushed for 100 yards in the first half. In the second half he ran for . . . seven. Bennett ran for 33 yards in the first half, in the second half he ran for . . . 50. The Bruins can’t blame the defense for this one.

STATISTICS

INDIVIDUAL

Rushing

*--*

UCLA TCB NYG Avg. TD Foster 26 107 4.1 1 Lewis 4 8 2.0 0 Bennett 1 6 6.0 0 Griffin 1 2 2.0 0 Paus 1 1 1.0 0 Mitchell 2 -1 -0.5 0 McEwan 2 -9 -4.5 0 Totals 37 114 3.1 1 Wisconsin TCB NYG Avg. TD Bennett 16 83 5.2 1 Bollinger 16 55 3.4 0 Faulkner 4 18 4.5 0 Chambers 1 9 9.0 0 Sorgi 1 7 7.0 0 Unertl 1 7 7.0 0 Kuhns 2 4 2.0 0 team 3 -6 -2.0 0 Totals 44 177 4.0 1

*--*

Passing

*--*

UCLA PA PC PI Yd TD McEwan 18 12 1 135 0 Paus 15 8 0 147 1 Totals 33 20 1 282 1 Wisconsin PA PC PI Yd TD Bollinger 16 8 0 107 2 Sorgi 2 1 1 23 0 Totals 18 9 1 130 2

*--*

Receiving

*--*

UCLA No. Yd. TD Mitchell 9 180 1 Poli-Dixon 7 50 0 Seidman 2 33 0 Fletcher 1 18 0 Ieremia-Stansbu 1 1 0 Totals 20 282 1 Wisconsin No. Yd. TD Chambers 4 30 1 Evans 3 86 1 Retzlaff 1 9 0 Braun 1 5 0 Totals 9 130 2

*--*

Field goals missed--None.

TEAM STATISTICS

*--*

UCLA Wisconsin First downs 20 18 Rushes-yards 37-114 44-177 Net yards passing 282 130 Passes 33-20-1 18-9-1 Int.-yd. ret. 1-2 1-20 Plays-net yd. 70-396 62-307 Punts-average 3-45.7 5-37.2 Punts ret.-yd. 0-0 2-12 Kickoffs ret.-yd. 2-42 2-79 Fumbles-lost -0 0-0 Penalties-yards 8-71 4-29 Time of pos. 30:22 29:38

*--*

UCLA LOG

Record: 6-6

35 Alabama 24

24 Fresno St. 21

23 Michigan 20

10 Oregon 29

38 Arizona St. 31

38 California (OT) 46

38 Oregon St. 44

27 Arizona 24

37 Stanford 35