Football: Bruins prey on Wildcat errors

The score doesn’t say it and the game never felt like it,
but UCLA still may have dodged a bullet on Saturday. If not for a
slew of Arizona mistakes, Saturday’s game could have played
out very differently.

The Wildcats committed nine penalties, dropped three potential
touchdowns, and allowed a punt block on the opening drive that
resulted in a safety.

Arizona quarterback Kris Heavner found open receivers downfield
on multiple occasions, only to watch the ball slip through their
hands.

“We dropped three touchdowns,” Arizona coach Mike
Stoops said. “It’s just not something we’re good
enough to overcome at this point,” Stoops said.

Time after time through the first half, the Wildcats shot
themselves in the foot at times when it appeared they had an
offensive rhythm or defensive stop.

The very first play of the game from scrimmage was typical of
Arizona’s day. Junior tailback Mike Bell ran for a solid gain
of six yards, but the play was nullified by a personal foul
facemask call, one of three such penalties the Wildcats committed
on the day.

Then on the next play, Heavner overthrew his receiver who had a
couple of steps on the cornerback, costing the Wildcats a likely
touchdown.

And then, on fourth down, a missed blocking assignment allowed
Bruin freshman safety Chris Horton a free lane at the punter
resulting in a clean block, with the football caroming out the back
of the endzone for a safety.

So while the Wildcats did plenty to sabotage their chances of
victory, the Bruins successfully exploited those mistakes.

Twice in the second quarter, UCLA capitalized immediately
following a Wildcat penalty. On both occasions, quarterback Drew
Olson hit tight end Marcedes Lewis for a touchdown. In that
quarter, the Wildcats collected six penalties and the Bruins
increased their lead from 9-3 to 23-3.

“It’s just uncanny,” Stoops said. “We
got them stopped on third-and-15, the refs call holding, and they
score on the next play. It’s frustrating.”

Even with the numerous mistakes, the Wildcats only turned the
ball over once, a late-game interception when the game’s
outcome was already certain. However, there very well could have
been a couple more had UCLA’s defense intercepted some of
Heavner’s poor passes that were thrown into the thick of the
Bruin secondary.

“Arizona definitely made a lot of mistakes and dropped a
couple of balls that we’re very fortunate on,” UCLA
defensive coordinator Larry Kerr said. “On the other hand, we
dropped a few balls that they were fortunate on. So on that side of
the ball it was kind of an ugly game.”

Even though Arizona overcame its first half penalty woes and did
not have any second half transgressions, the damage had been
done.

If that very first drive of the game had gone better for
Arizona, the Bruins could have been in for a very different game.
But errors are inherent in football, and it is how a team deals
with them that determines wins and losses.

“It’s all part of the game,” UCLA junior
safety Jarrad Page said. “Mistakes kill you.”