ONLINE EXTRA: Bruins conquer first-date jitters, manage to score

  Mike Maloney Maloney would be the
first-date batting champion, but he doesn’t have enough at-bats to
qualify. E-mail him at [email protected].

Season openers are a lot like first dates. Both come with high
expectations and nerves that don”št go away until after you
make your first contact.

For the Bruins, Saturday night’s opener started in typical
first-date fashion. The team staggered out of the gates, looking
tentative, out of sync, and like they had little chance to
score.

In the first half, the UCLA offense looked sluggish, easily a
few hundred volts less electrifying than advertised. A combination
of dropped passes and poorly thrown balls had quarterback Cory Paus
looking more out of rhythm than Rodney Dangerfield filling in as a
backup dancer at a Janet Jackson concert.

The Bruin defense, meanwhile, came out fired up, ready to shed
their image as the club”šs weakest link. However,
Alabama”šs wide-open, single-wing option attack seemed to
confuse and frustrate UCLA for much of the first half.

Never was the confusion and frustration more evident than when
Alabama quarterback Tyler Watts rescued a high snap, stepped up in
the face of an oncoming Bruin onslaught of blitzers, and flung the
ball down the field to a wide-open Antonio Carter for a 78-yard
touchdown.

Surely, it will be one of those plays that new defensive
coordinator Phil Snow will dissect meticulously on film during the
week. Film buffs should beware: this screening of "Blown Coverage"
is likely to be rated "R" for adult language and comic violence
toward video equipment.

However, despite the blown coverage and a rather uneven
first-half performance, the Bruins were able to tally a late
touchdown and head into half time only down a field goal.

And the night, as they say, was still young.

Done with feeling out the opposition, the Bruins came out in the
second half ready to make their move. Paus, erratic earlier,
finally found his broad side of a barn in the form of wide receiver
Tab Perry. Taking advantage of Alabama”šs production of "Blown
Coverage 2: The Sequel," Perry caught Paus”š pass in stride
down the left sideline for a 53-yard touchdown. And with that one
simple hookup, the Bruins took the lead and the wind out of the
83,818 Crimson Tide faithful in attendance.

From there, UCLA turned over the keys of the offense to
soon-to-be-playing-on-Sunday tailback DeShaun Foster. With the
“šBama defense wilting in the Tuscaloosa heat and humidity,
the behemoth Bruin offensive line began to push and shove the
Tide”šs front seven wherever they pleased. As the holes
opened, Foster began his assault.

The senior All-America candidate sped, juked, and stiff-armed
his way up and down the field, setting up a field goal that put the
Bruins up 17-10.

On the other side of the ball, the UCLA defenders allowed
Alabama to continue to march between the 20s. All told, Alabama
outgained UCLA 459-291 on the evening. But apparently somebody
forgot to tell the Tide that the only yards that matter in football
are the 10 that make up the end zone. When it came down to crunch
time, the Bruins showed that while they might not have the most
suffocating defense in the land, it”šs certainly one fit for
Broadway. All the unit did in the second half was make big
plays.

Two of the biggest came on consecutive series. The first saw a
pass by Tide quarterback Watts touch more hands than Bill Clinton
on the campaign trail. The twice-deflected ball eventually landed
in the intercepting hands of cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. And then,
in perhaps the most stupefying play call of the night, Alabama ran
a reverse in Bruin territory on the 10th play of what had been a
very efficient drive. Bruin defensive tackle Rodney Leslie busted
up the play, stripping Dre Fulgham, and eventually recovering the
football.

Alabama”šs frequent miscues, which also included a
school-record 15 penalties for 93 yards, made sure that a dazzling
71-yard touchdown catch by Tide wide receiver Freddie Milons late
in the fourth quarter would be filed under "too little, too late"
in the football filing cabinet.

The Tide”šs mistake-riddled evening proved a nice
complement to UCLA”šs steady performance. The Bruins did not
commit a penalty or a turnover all night, and the rock-solid
offensive line allowed just one sack. That”šs the first-date
equivalent of going the entire night without mentioning your ex or
talking with a mouthful of French bread. The result was a very
satisfying season-opening victory.

And it just goes to show, in season openers and first dates,
even if things start out slow, you can still make out well by the
end of the night.