Cal stands no chance in face of perfected passing

  ELI GILL Senior tailback DeShaun Foster
(No. 26) plows through Cal’s defense on his way to rushing for 117
yards and three touchdowns in UCLA’s 56-17 victory Saturday at the
Rose Bowl. UCLA 56 Cal 17

By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter

Coach was right.

“If you’re going to beat these guys you can’t
out-finesse them; (UCLA) is going to out-finesse you every
time,” Cal head coach Tom Holmoe told his players before the
game.

Finesse was exactly what the Bruins showed Saturday as the
passing game finally clicked and the Bruins blew the Bears out of
the Rose Bowl 56-17.

“Cory was connecting with the receivers,” wide
receiver Tab Perry said. “That was the only thing missing
before ““ our passing game.”

At first, the game looked like it might be close when the UCLA
defense faltered on the opening drive, allowing a 39-yard run by
Cal tailback Joe Igber. UCLA was called on a personal foul on the
next play which helped Cal reach the UCLA 22-yard line and kick a
field goal to put Cal on the board first 3-0.

“They were able to execute and dictate that first
series,” linebacker Ryan Nece said. “We were kind of on
our heels and we haven’t been in that position in a
while.”

UCLA went three and out on its first series after Paus was
sacked twice. But Ricky Manning gave the offense a second chance on
the very next play, intercepting Cal quarterback Eric
Holtfreter’s pass and returning it 20 yards.

UCLA again went three and out, but on its third possession hit
its stride and never looked back. After Paus found tight end Mike
Seidman for a gain of 19, UCLA scored on a double reverse to wide
receiver Craig Bragg. Foster took the handoff, gave it to Perry,
who handed it to Bragg, who ran 42 yards to put UCLA on the board
7-3.

“We worked it out all week in practice,” Bragg said.
“I figured if it worked against our defense, it would work
against Cal’s. It was a cake-walk into the end
zone.”

In the second quarter, Cal was again able to run Igber
successfully against UCLA, setting up Holtfreter’s pass to
Charon Arnold to put Cal in the lead 10-7.

Paus went five-of-five on the next series, however, and moved
the Bruins down the field despite two sacks. DeShaun Foster
completed the drive with a one-yard run to put UCLA up 14-10.

UCLA scored again when Paus was almost sacked behind the Cal 34
at the end of the first half. Paus’ arm was hit while he was
releasing the pass, but Foster caught the errant throw and ran it
in for the touchdown to make the score 21-10 at halftime.

“Right before the play Cory told me to stay aware,”
Foster said. “I just saw it and caught it and went from
there. When I turned around I noticed the defenders were nowhere
near me.”

The play was particularly galling for Cal.

“We hit the quarterback and the ball went up in the air
and guess who happened to be there?” Holmoe said.

Foster frustrated Cal all night, gaining 117 yards rushing and
three touchdowns despite Cal putting nine men in the box. Foster
even popped a defender’s helmet off as he ran him over.

“We had a lot of guys swarm him,” Holmoe said.
“You have to hit him with three guys. Individual tackles are
not successful against him.”

Although Cal was still in the game at halftime, UCLA crushed
them in the third quarter, holding the Bears scoreless while
putting up 21 points to make the score 42-10.

Paus spread the ball around, completing a touchdown pass to wide
receiver Ryan Smith in his first career start. Fullback Ed
Ieremia-Stansbury also had a 4-yard touchdown catch. The drive was
enabled by a 58-yard pass to Craig Bragg who shook defenders to
almost make it into the end zone.

“(Cal) was playing everybody up close so if I got in the
flat I was wide open,” Ieremia-Stansbury said.

Special teams scored the other touchdown of the third quarter
when Devon Reese returned a blocked punt by Marcus Reese 16 yards
for his first career touchdown. Audie Attar stood out on special
teams as well, finishing the night second on the defense with seven
tackles.

UCLA’s final score came for Akil Harris on a 48-yard
run.

“It was unexpected; I didn’t know it would open up
like that,” he said.

The second team defense shut Cal down in the red zone once, but
allowed the Bears to score with one second remaining to make the
final score 56-17.

 

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