Early UCLA hopes fade over season

  DANIEL WONG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Robert
Thomas looks out for the Arizona State offense this past
season.

By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter

All summer they said they wanted to play their last game at
home: the national championship at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 3. Instead
the Bruins ended up at home, watching the game on TV.

“It was hard to watch them (Miami and Nebraska) in our
stadium. I had to turn it off,” true freshman defensive back
Jibril Raymo said.

When the “Race for the Roses” began no one could
have predicted how the Bruins would become a front-runner, nor did
anyone then think how far behind they’d fall.

“I think we set goals that were too high, and instead of
picking ourselves up (after the losses) we went to the
wayside,” junior defensive lineman Rodney Leisle said.

The season’s turning point came at Stanford on Oct. 27.
UCLA had surprised many by building a 6-0 record with the help of a
revitalized defense that allowed no more than 17 points a game.
After pulling out a 21-20 victory over Alabama the Bruins went on
to crush Kansas 41-17. Although the offense faltered against Ohio
State, the defense led them to a 13-6 win.

The Bruins went on to quell suspicions about their ability on
the road with a 38-7 victory that showcased DeShaun Foster with 147
rushing. The defense held the over-hyped Ken Simonton to 26
yards.

UCLA took on then-undefeated Washington next and rose higher in
national prominence with a convincing 35-13 beating that left their
quarterback in the hospital. Foster’s record-breaking 305
yards in the game put him high on Heisman lists.

A 56-17 whipping of Cal rounded out their 6-0 record as they
headed up to Palo Alto.

Before kickoff, Nebraska beat Oklahoma, opening up the No. 2 BCS
spot for the No. 3 Bruins. It all seemed a formality.

But 60 minutes of play later the Bruins were staring dumfounded
at a 38-28 scoreboard in the Cardinal’s favor. The 6-1 record
may as well have been 7-4, because the game was the turning point
of the season.

“I think we were all just shocked that we lost,”
Raymo said. “A lot of people didn’t realize it could
happen.”

Leisle echoed his sentiments.

“I think we took everything too lightly. We didn’t
think we had to work as hard,” he said.

The offense fell apart the next week in a 20-14 loss at
Washington State, and then things began to unravel off the field as
well. UCLA suspended Foster for an extra-benefits violation and
that weekend, without the nation’s leading rusher, the Bruins
fell 21-20 to Oregon on a missed field goal with two seconds
remaining.

“It was difficult watching Oregon beat Colorado (in the
Fiesta Bowl) knowing we only lost by one point,” senior
quarterback Scott McEwan said.

With the media attention on Foster and junior quarterback Cory
Paus’ DUIs, a distracted Bruin team collapsed in a 27-0
shutout at USC.

Like most fans, many of the players are still wondering what
happened, pointing to a combination of over-confidence,
distractions and an inability to rebound.

Although the Bruins finished the season with a 52-42 win over
Arizona State and a 7-4 record (4-4 Pac-10), they missed out on a
bowl by finishing sixth in the Pac-10.

“We (seniors) didn’t want our careers to end like
they did,” McEwan said.