Down to the wire: UCLA, ASU to square off in battle for Pac-12 South

Ka’imi Fairbairn doesn’t remember much about his greatest kick in a UCLA uniform.

With UCLA trailing Arizona State 43-42 in Tempe, Ariz., last year and the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, coach Jim Mora called a timeout with just two seconds left to play, enough time for a make-or-break 33-yard field goal from the then-freshman, nothing else.

Mora screamed at his field goal unit as it took the field. Sizing up his straight-ahead field goal, Fairbairn took a deep breath, shook his arms and stroked the football well inside the left upright.

That part draws a blank. What came after renders a clearer image.

“I just remember getting tackled and then my nose started bleeding,” Fairbairn said. “It was a fun game. It was my first game-winner. I learned a lot from it. Same with the Stanford kick. It’s just taking what you’ve done and learning from it.”

So, too, did the rest of the UCLA football team. Near his hometown of Chandler, Ariz., redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley, in just his eighth collegiate start at quarterback, converted on a drive that started on UCLA’s own 20. Of the many takeaways from the game-winning drive, Mora said one in particular was his young quarterback’s mental toughness.

“I think just from the whole drive was Brett’s poise and our confidence as an offense that we were going to be able to get it done,” Mora said. “I remember (Joseph Fauria’s) big catch on the sideline but mostly Brett’s poise, especially for a young guy, against an outstanding defense. I thought it was a pretty special moment for this football team.”

No. 14 UCLA (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) looks to replicate that same success,though perhaps in a less stressful manner, this Saturday when No. 19 Arizona State (8-2, 6-1) visits the Rose Bowl.

In their last trip to Pasadena in 2011, the Sun Devils were the clear favorite, boasting a top-25 ranking and legitimate Pac-12 title game hopes with USC facing its final year of bowl sanctions. The Bruins, much like in 2012, trailed the Sun Devils late in the fourth quarter until much-maligned quarterback Kevin Prince had one of his marquee moments in a UCLA uniform, hitting wide receiver Nelson Rosario on third-and-29 to convert a crucial first down. The big gain set up a game-winning touchdown from running back Derrick Coleman with less than a minute to play, giving the Bruins a wildly uncharacteristic come-from-behind victory.

This time around, there is much more parity between the two squads. Arizona State comes into the game a more manageable 2 1/2-point favorite, and Mora said his team is preparing adequately for the fellow Pac-12 South powerhouse.

“I think we’re locked in,” he said. “We understand the implications of this game. We understand the type of team that we’re getting ready to play.”

The implications, as Mora said, are laid out clearly for the Bruins. A loss on Saturday makes Arizona State the first non-UCLA representative in Pac-12 title game history and forces the Bruins to watch from home and settle for a lesser bowl game. A win gives the Bruins an opportunity to clinch the Pac-12 South title against the USC Trojans the following Saturday at the Coliseum, adding even more incentive to an already contentious rivalry game.

The Bruins sit in a rickety driver’s seat at best, but for now it’s nonetheless a driver’s seat. And it’s one that Hundley fully expects his team to take advantage of over the next two weeks.

“That’s all we can ask for is an opportunity to control what we’re doing,” Hundley said. “We’ve just got to keep winning games. I think that’s really what it comes down to. These next two games are going to be pretty fun.”