Bruins come close, but fall to Beavers

  MARY CIECEK/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Despite quarterback
Cory Paus‘ efforts on the Bruins’ last drive, UCLA
was unable to go the distance in Saturday’s loss to Oregon State.
The loss marks the team’s third in Pac-10 play. Football
OSU d. UCLA 44-38

By Greg Lewis
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

It was too little, too late for the second week in a row.

The game turned towards Oregon State on a few big fourth quarter
plays, and the Bruins could not keep up.

The Bruins had one final chance in the waning seconds of the
game, but they came up one play short.

Quarterback Cory Paus got a throw off to DeShaun Foster on the
game’s final play, but the referee ruled that Paus was in the
grasp of the Beavers’ LaDarius Jackson, negating the
pass.

“There were a lot of other things that happened in the
game,” Paus said. “That play was not the reason we
lost.”

The Beavers (6-1 overall, 3-1 Pac-10), pulled ahead 44-31 with
1:52 left in the game. The only way that UCLA (4-3, 1-3) would have
had a chance to win was if they had raced down the field, scored a
quick touchdown, recovered an onside kick, raced down the field and
scored again.

  PATIL ARMENIAN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff UCLA’s
DeShaun Foster slips out of reach of an Oregon
defender. The Bruins came close. Paus did his part to make it work.
After the Beavers went up by 13, he made UCLA score on an 18-yard
pass to Jon Dubravac, bringing the Bruins within six with 1:18 left
on the clock.

Drew Bennett recovered the onside kick, giving the Bruins a
chance to win the game. And UCLA still had a chance with 16 seconds
to play. Paus dropped back to pass, turned left and hit DeShaun
Foster just as he was about to down along the sideline for what
looked like a first down.

Instead, the referees ruled the play dead. Paus was on his feet
when he let go of the ball, but Jackson had Paus wrapped up and was
about to bring him down.

“I understand why they have that rule; they’re
trying to protect the quarterbacks,” said UCLA Head Coach Bob
Toledo.

That play ended a wild fourth quarter. Roughly a minute earlier,
the Bruins thought they had taken a 38-37 lead. Linebacker Marcus
Reese appeared to recover a fumble from Beaver quarterback Jonathan
Smith in the end zone for a touchdown, but the referee had already
blown the whistle due to an illegal procedure penalty on the
Beavers.

That brought up a third-and-21 from the 4-yard line. Oregon
State running back Patrick McCall then burst through the left side
of the line for a first down.

“The big plays were the difference. We had them stopped a
couple of times, and then they slipped in a big play. We’ve
got to execute better,” said linebacker Robert Thomas.

McCall then cracked the same seam in the UCLA line, going 66
yards untouched into the end zone to put the Beavers up 44-31.

In the most unanticipated move of the game, Beaver head coach
Dennis Erickson benched the Pac-10’s leading rusher, Ken
Simonton, after two first-half fumbles and a mild hamstring
strain.

The Simonton fumbles were part of the few things that stopped
OSU’s offense all day. The Beavers finished with 351 through
the air and 253 on the ground for 604 total yards.

For the seventh time in seven games, the Bruins’ opponent
opened the scoring with a touchdown. After holding UCLA to three
and out on the game’s opening possession, Oregon State
marched 15 plays in seven minutes. Split end Chad Johnson capped
the drive, catching the first of Smith’s four touchdown
passes, from eight yards out.

After UCLA got the ball back, they went right to their two
biggest offensive weapons. Of the eight UCLA plays it took to
score, seven were to either Foster or Freddie Mitchell. Together,
they have 13 touchdowns on the season.

Mitchell had two catches for 38 yards, and Foster had five
carries for 18 yards, including a two-yard end-around for the
touchdown.

With the score 7-7 and Oregon State driving inside the ten,
cornerback Ricky Manning put his helmet in Simonton’s
stomach, forcing the running back’s second fumble of the
game. The Bruins took a 10-7 lead five minutes later when Chris
Griffith put one through the uprights with 24 seconds left in the
half.

The second play of the second half was an omen for the
unpredictability of the rest of the game. Smith, trying to set up a
screen to the right side, tossed the ball right into linebacker
Tony White’s helmet, where it ricocheted into defensive end
Mat Ball’s hands. Ball returned it 15 yards for a Bruin
touchdown.

Ball and his twin brother Dave started at the defensive ends in
place of the injured Kenyon Coleman and Rusty Williams. Williams,
who has never missed a game in his career, played sparingly
throughout the game due to multiple injuries.

With Ball’s touchdown, the Bruins began to gather
momentum. On the next Beaver play, the defense stuffed Simonton a
yard behind the line of scrimmage.

On the following play, Smith completed a seven-yard pass to
Martin Marurer, who was hit immediately. The ball popped into the
air, where wide receiver Robert Prescott caught the ball on the fly
and raced 50 yards into the end zone.

On the ensuing drive, Paus completed consecutive passes of 30
and 27 yards to Mitchell and tight end Bryan Fletcher, bringing the
Bruins to the Beaver 18-yard line. Akil Harris rushed for the
drive’s other 20 yards.

The fourth quarter began with the Bruins up, 24-21. With 13
minutes left, Paus hit a wide-open Gabe Crecion for a 67-yard
touchdown.

The Beavers then started their fourth-quarter rampage, scoring
the next 23 points, before Dubravac’s touchdown from
Paus.

 GAME SUMMARY BOX DEFEATED 44-38 CORY PAUS
The UCLA quarterback took a beating form the OSU defense but was
still as tough as possible, standing in there until the
game’s final play. Paus finished with 363 yards.

Immediately following defensive touchdown called back because of
a dead ball penalty, Patrick McCall converted on third and 21,
setting up his final touchdown run and a 44-31 Beaver lead.

37 vs. 7, the number of points Oregon State scored in the second
half compared to the first.

"Those big plays are killing us."
– linebacker Robert Thomas

Oregon state was UCLA’s sixth opponent in seven games who
went to a bowl game last year.

  OSU UCLA Net Yards Rushing 253 72 Net Yards Passing 351
363 Total Net Yards 604 435 First Downs 31 22 Time of Possession
35:18 24:42 Original by Yu Wang/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Web
Adaptation by MONICA KWONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff