UCLA football questions Oregon State’s sportsmanship in 41-0 win
Coach Jim Mora expresses his frustration with the way Oregon State’s defensive line was mimicking cadences at the line of scrimmage on Saturday. (Austin Yu/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Matt Joye
Nov. 7, 2015 7:53 p.m.
CORVALLIS, Ore. – In each of UCLA football’s three blowout wins this year, there has been a common theme: the mood of the postgame press conference.
Ironically, the feeling hasn’t been jubilant – it’s been somber.
After UCLA’s 37-3 win over UNLV, coach Jim Mora was quick-tempered when a reporter asked him why he still ran plays late into the fourth quarter. Then, after UCLA’s 56-35 win over Arizona, Mora said that he was “sick to his stomach” because his defense had just allowed 353 rushing yards.
On Saturday, after a 41-0 defeat of Oregon State – UCLA’s first road shutout since 1987 – Mora was simply terse. When he was asked why UCLA had seven false start penalties on offense, he gave a short, cryptic response.
“There was something going on up front (at the line of scrimmage), yes,” Mora said. “I’m not gonna talk about it because it doesn’t matter what I say. I’ll just tell you this: It was not (on) UCLA.”
After Mora stepped down from the press conference podium, offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone came up and elaborated on what was going on up front, though he didn’t add much information.
“Yeah, there was (stuff going on up front), but no big deal,” Mazzone said. “Because we’re such a tempo team, any time a defense is stemming with their front, a lot of times it targets our guys’ attention.”
Then came freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, who made clear exactly why the Bruins were a bit angered after their 41-0 romp. He said that the Beavers were trying to mimic offensive cadences at the line of scrimmage – on almost every play – in an attempt to disrupt the rhythm and snap count of UCLA’s offense.
SPECTRUM GALLERY: UCLA blows out Oregon State 41-0
“Can I just start off: I want to say that, it was kind of BS what they were doing on the defensive line,” Rosen said. “(The Beavers) were calling cadences, saying ‘set, huts.’ So all these false starts and stuff on our offensive line – it wasn’t on them.”
Rosen added that what Oregon State was doing “should be illegal,” and that he’d never seen a team mimic cadence like that before.
For all of the mayhem that was going on at the line of scrimmage, neither Rosen nor the UCLA offensive linemen showed frustration in their play. The Bruins racked up 674 yards of total offense – their highest yardage output since Sept. 21, 2013 against New Mexico State. Rosen was particularly effective, going 22 for 33, and six for 11 on throws of 15 yards or more.
As impressive as those stats were, they did little to brighten the mood in the postgame press conference.
“I always say … stats are for losers. Just get the win,” said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. “We’ve emphasized the fact, and coach Mora told them, that right now it’s a three-game playoff. … We’ll have a tough challenge this week, with Washington State coming to town.”
And after the game against Washington State, No. 23 UCLA (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12) plays games on the road against USC and No. 12 Utah – the other top teams in the Pac-12 South. If the Bruins win all three, they go to the Pac-12 Championship game.
