Paus returns, brings Bruins back with him

Jeff Kmiotek   E-mail comments and
questions to [email protected].
Click
Here for more articles by Jeff Kmiotek  

The Bruins played a wild game Saturday night, but the real story
was Cory.

Coming back from a separated shoulder, Cory Paus shouldered the
load and showed he is UCLA’s best quarterback this year. Paus
had a good day stat-wise, throwing for 267 yards and two
touchdowns, but he did the things that don’t show up in the
box score, which UCLA had been lacking in the past.

“Cory’s a great leader. He’s nice and calm in
the huddle. He gets us fired up and he knows his stuff,” said
offensive lineman Brian Polak. “And he executes it well, so
having that back is really a big boost for our offense.”

The keyword in the locker room after the game was definitely
“leader,” a quality necessary in bringing a team back
from a 21-point deficit. And while most players made sure to throw
in some praise for the job Ryan McCann did filling in, UCLA is
obviously better off with Paus at the helm.

“Cory brings a lot of leadership to the team, and he was
in control tonight,” said offensive lineman Oscar Cabrera.
“Coming into this game he was really confident ““ kind
of weird for a guy who hasn’t played in 10 months. He was
tough and it showed.”

  Quarterback Cory Paus, sidelined for the
first four games of the season with a separated shoulder, helped
carry the Bruins to a comeback win over ASU, completing 17 of 30
passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns. With DeShaun Foster in the
locker room, the defense allowing big plays and the Bruins down
21-0 in the second quarter, UCLA needed a shot in the arm and Paus
provided it. He led the Bruins on a 95-yard drive to cut the
deficit to 14 points.

“In the first quarter we dropped a lot of passes,”
flanker Freddie Mitchell said. “Cory came to us and said,
“˜Hey, stick in there, we got three quarters
left.'”

And just like that, the Bruins were back. With two blockers
celebrating Rosh Hashanah, Jermaine Lewis opened the second half
with UCLA’s Rush Hashanah (rush of the year), scoring on a
57-yard scamper.

And then Paus continued the onslaught, rifling two touchdowns to
Freddie Mitchell to give UCLA the lead for good.

“It was amazing for him to come out and make throws and
feel secure about it,” Mitchell said.

Considering Paus returned to the lineup earlier than expected,
there was some concern he would get re-injured, but he survived
relatively unscathed. Paus swore he felt fine during the game and
said he gained confidence after getting hit hard.

“It was good to see I could get up and play again,”
he said.

He was still a bit sore from getting sacked with an illegal
spearing hit in the third quarter, however, in which a Sun Devil
dove into Paus’ ribs helmet-first.

But the play did give the Bruins a first down.

“Exactly, so I’ll take it,” Paus said,
displaying his grit.

Otherwise, the night went smoothly for Paus.

“I felt good right off the bat and I was pretty
comfortable,” he said. “Sometimes I have to step into
the throws a little more because I don’t have all my strength
back yet, so I can’t just hang back and throw as hard as I
normally would.”

Another positive aspect of Paus’ return is his ability to
spread the ball around and utilize the playbook. Coach Bob Toledo
said he cut down the playbook by about two-thirds for McCann, but
it was opened back up for Paus. He can find second, third and
fourth options better than McCann, and it was apparent Saturday
night.

“He knows the offense well and he’s the kind of guy
to get everybody involved,” said split end Brian Poli-Dixon,
who benefitted with eight catches. “He tends to look all over
the field so it brings the confidence level up.”

Paus’ comeback also aids the running game, as defenses
can’t stack the line to stop the run as they did before. With
Paus consistently hitting open receivers, UCLA’s offense
becomes very explosive.

McCann also had trouble reading defenses and calling audibles at
the line, something Paus showed he could do.

“We made a lot of audibles that we might not have made in
the past,” Saffer said.

So while Lewis and Akil Harris stepped up, Saturday’s game
ball goes to Paus.

“He’s a playmaker and he’s got a lot of
heart,” Poli-Dixon said. “So that’s the outcome
right there for you.”