Paus struggles in face of adversity

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Some might say it’s a scowl, others a grimace. But
whatever you call it, there’s an unmistakable look on Cory
Paus’ face that follows every poor throw he makes. On a
sliding scale, it falls somewhere between disgust and utter
disbelief.

After small miscues, the face is more restrained. But there are
times, usually after a particularly ill-timed interception, where
the face gets downright despondent. Paus looked like a petulant
teenager that’s just had his car keys taken away for the
weekend.

UCLA fans got a long look at that face on Saturday afternoon,
and you get the feeling that if the Bruins don’t turn this
thing around fast, that face could end up defining their season.
Worse yet, if the heartbreak continues, Paus’ downtrodden mug
could enter the pantheon of other infamous football faces.

The list includes such notables as the “Jon Gruden Death
Scowl,” the “Troy Aikman I’ve just had my bell
rung for the 300th time Look,” and of course, the ever
popular “Far-Away, Vacant Jeff George I’ve just thrown
another interception, see if I care Face.”

The Paus “I can’t believe that ball ended up where
it did” entry was on full display twice within a two-minute
span late in the fourth quarter.

On both occasions, Paus rolled to his right on a second down
play and proceeded to heave a pass down a field that had
“rainbow” written all over it. But instead of a pot of
gold, each pass ended in the hands of Washington State safety
Lamont Thompson. In a cruel bit of irony, Thompson caught more
passes from Paus in the fourth quarter ““ in the form of three
interceptions ““ than any Bruin receiver.

“He stares down where he’s going to throw,”
Thompson told reporters after the game. “I went where his
eyes went and the ball just sort of floated in the air.”

Paus’ trio of interceptions was staggering when you
consider this is the same quarterback who went 198 attempts without
an interception until last Saturday against Stanford. But now, he
has thrown four picks in his last five quarters of action. As any
Washington State resident can tell you, “when it rains it
pours.”

While it’s easy to point the finger at Paus for his
two-minute drill meltdown, it’s important to remember that
the entire UCLA offense struggled mightily throughout the entire
contest. Ryan McCann, who started the game in place of Paus, looked
overwhelmed and threw two interceptions of his own in the first
half. DeShaun Foster struggled to run the ball consistently against
a stacked Cougar defensive front. And when Tab Perry left the game
with a rib injury in the third quarter, the Bruins were left
without their top two receiving threats.

“They dared us to throw the ball,” UCLA head coach
Bob Toledo said after the game, “and we couldn’t do it
tonight.”

Murphy’s law and the WSU defense prevailed series after
forgettable series. And if it weren’t for another stellar,
all over the field effort from the Bruins’ defense, UCLA
might not have scored at all.

To think, it was just two short weeks ago that the mighty Bruins
looked bound for the BCS title game in the Rose Bowl. Two crushing
conference losses later and UCLA finds itself fighting for a berth
in such luminary college football events as the Wells Fargo Sun
Bowl, the Jeep San Francisco Bowl, or if things get really bad,
maybe even the Puzzles Chili in a Bread Bowl. And god knows
it’s a long way down from Pasadena to Puzzles.

UCLA now has to win out to have any chance at the Pac-10 title.
And with opposing defenses sure to stack the line against Foster,
the team’s offensive hopes will fall heavily on the shoulders
of Paus. The next three games will define the Bruins’ season.
It can end in triumph or bitter disappointment.

Either way, Paus’ face will tell the story.