Reviewing ‘The Drive’: Episode 3

The third episode of “The Drive” begins with what will likely be the most powerful first 15 minutes of any episode this season.

Appropriately, the show devoted the first half of the 30-minute episode to the story of Nick Pasquale, a former walk-on wide receiver for UCLA who was struck and killed by a car in the early hours of Sept. 8, 2013.

The segment begins with a glimpse of Jim Mora’s days as a walk-on at Washington and him describing what type of man he hopes to turn each of his players into – one who is committed to the team, who works hard and practices each day with tremendous effort.

By all accounts, this seems to be the type of player and person Pasquale was, and I think the show does a good job capturing that.

We are privy to some of Pasquale’s high school game film, pictures of him in his San Clemente Triton football jersey and footage of the one and only snap he took for UCLA. We see the memorial in San Clemente, which has a picture of him in his No. 36 UCLA jersey, with candles and UCLA memorabilia. We see footage from the vigil at San Clemente High School and clips from the UCLA v. Nebraska game the team played less than a week after Pasquale’s passing. We also see that the team still keeps a locker for Pasquale, with his shoulder pads underneath his jersey, his name facing the rest of the room.

Clearly, Pasquale is still very much a part of this team.

The most impactful moment of the show is when we hear from Pasquale’s parents, Mel and Laurie. It’s a tough watch, as the two speak about their son, and I commend them for appearing on the show and doing so. It is an intensely authentic moment dealing with some of the toughest subject matter you can have on a show, and it is tactfully done.

“He touched not only football players, but all walks of life,” Mel Pasquale said of his son.

The show also captured a nice moment when A.J. Pasquale, Nick’s older brother, who currently works for operations and recruiting for UCLA football, addresses the team before the Virginia game.

“I challenge you guys to show up every day; throughout this grind and throughout this season, have a chip on your shoulder. … I wouldn’t want to be anywehere else, and I hope you guys wouldn’t either,” A.J. Pasquale said to the UCLA players.

There is little to no time spent on covering the fallout from the Virginia game or previewing the Memphis game. Any other week I’d be disappointed that something like that didn’t make it on the show, but “The Drive” spends its time telling a story that is profoundly more important than football and does a great job doing so.

Now for the coverage of the game itself.

This gets off to a perplexing start, as the narrator states, “All eyes are on the defense. After last week’s dominant performance at Virginia, they deliver again.”

Uh, what?

You know this wasn’t the case at all if you watched the UCLA v. Memphis game, and if you’re watching “The Drive” to begin with, the chances are pretty high that you did. If you’re anything like me, you guffawed when you heard this. Showing slo-mo clips of sophomore nose tackle Kenny Clark and redshirt senior linebacker Eric Kendricks tackling Memphis players doesn’t erase the fact that the Bruins defense allowed 21 first-half points.

By far, the best Mora moment from Saturday night’s game occurred after Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch’s first-quarter touchdown run. The look of incredulity on the UCLA coach’s face after Lynch crosses the goal line is priceless.

Another confusing moment: Following Memphis’ ill-executed fake punt – which sophomore linebacker Jayon Brown ran back into the end zone – the show merely mentions that there was a penalty on the play. No clarification of what the penalty was, or what happened as a result of it, is given. It then bizarrely cuts to redshirt junior quarterback Brett Hundley throwing an incomplete pass into the end zone.

This curious transition creates a false understanding of the game. The Bruins didn’t get the ball back after the play, though you might think that they did based on that edit sequence. The show not only fails to explain the penalty, but also neglects to clarify that Brown’s “fumble recovery” wasn’t one at all and that the penalty – illegal hands to the face committed by redshirt junior linebacker Kenny Orjioke – allowed the Memphis drive to continue.

Mora stated after the game how big special teams penalties were in this game, and the show failed to address arguably the biggest one. The last thing we hear about it is Mora appropriately asking: “What’s the penalty? We didn’t have too many guys on the field? I don’t know yet. Let’s see what the penalty is.”

Sorry, coach, “The Drive” doesn’t tell us.

I would’ve liked to see more of the interactions between defensive players and coaches this week. Just as last week’s episode lacked coverage of the Bruins’ offensive line struggles, this week’s episode fails to properly capture the major story line of the game. Against Memphis, the defense struggled mightily and we see next to nothing on what the defense was going through throughout the game. This is the behind-the-scenes game day footage the show has to deliver, and it doesn’t for the second consecutive week.

By the way, can we go one episode without mentioning that UCLA is building something, or on its way to something bigger and how each practice/game/ice tub cooldown is part of that process? Pretty please?

Final verdict: I appreciate that “The Drive” tells the story of Pasquale and commemorates the one-year anniversary of his passing. While the actual game coverage leaves a lot to be desired, the first piece is strong enough to carry this episode.

Episode 3 grade: 4/5

– Jordan Lee