McEwan, Bragg shine against Sun Devils
By Daily Bruin Staff
Dec. 2, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior quarterback
Scott McEwan displayed tremendous chemistry with
freshman wideout Craig Bragg against Arizona State
on Saturday.
By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter
If only head coach Bob Toledo had one more daughter.
Unfortunately, all three are already married.
“Now you know why I wish I had one more daughter,”
Toledo said after senior quarterback Scott McEwan spoke at the
post-game press conference. “I’d like him (McEwan) for
my son-in-law. Great kid.”
Not to mention great performance.
McEwan stepped in for the demoted Cory Paus and racked up a
career high 280 yards on 20-of-36 pass completions en route to the
52-42 victory.
“He’s a senior and he played a very mature football
game,” fellow senior tight end Bryan Fletcher said.
But the senior passed the torch Saturday to the younger players,
connecting with redshirt freshman Craig Bragg for a career-high 138
yards.
“Craig’s a young guy. Scott’s an old guy. It
was nice because they both deserved it,” senior wide receiver
Brian Poli-Dixon said.
In the opening drive of the second quarter, McEwan escaped two
blitzing defenders to launch the ball to Bragg. He made the catch,
then leapt from the grasps of his corner to dive into the endzone
for a 62-yard touchdown, putting UCLA up 21-7. It was Bragg’s
first receiving touchdown of his career.
Their chemistry continued throughout the game. After two short
passes for third down conversions in the third quarter, McEwan
again found Bragg for a touchdown. On third and two, Toledo called
a play-action pass which the ASU defense fell for. As tailback Akil
Harris plowed into the line, McEwan calmly pulled the ball from
behind his back and sent it flying 39 yards. Bragg caught it on the
run while looking directly into the sky, and ran it in to put UCLA
out of ASU’s reach 45-21.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better game as far as
myself,” McEwan said. “I tried to get (Bragg) the ball
because I knew he would make plays for us.”
Bragg and McEwan’s connection hinged largely on the game
plan. Toledo gave Bragg the most opportunities because he was the
healthiest receiver. However, their chemistry also results from
both starting the season second string.
“We worked hard together a lot this past week and in the
off-season,” Bragg said. “We were both second string,
so we were always on the same teams. We stayed after practice a
little bit in the summer to get our timing down just in case
something happened.”
And something did.
Now, if only Toledo had two more daughters.
