In the week leading up to Thursday night’s matchup with No. 1 Oregon (7-0, 4-0 Pacific-10 Conference), UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel told a reporter, “I do believe (Oregon’s) scheme can be caught up with.”
That didn’t happen on Thursday as Oregon blew out UCLA (3-4, 1-3) by a score of 60-13. The offense was humming at its usual torrid pace, while the defense put together one of its better performances of the year.
“Everybody, in all three phases, really came to play,” Kelly said. “The week off was good for us. I think we got better as a group, and it showed out there tonight.”
Though the Bruins showed some early life on offense during their first possession of the game, the momentum quickly shifted when safety John Boyett intercepted Richard Brehaut’s pass at the Oregon 10-yard line.
Following the interception, the Ducks moved quickly up the field before stalling at the UCLA 37-yard line. Facing an early fourth-and-six situation, Oregon quickly decided to go for the first down. Quarterback Darron Thomas took the snap, surveyed the field and then lofted a pass to running back LaMichael James as he sprinted down the sideline.
The pass was high, but James came up with a spectacular catch and took the ball 25 yards for the first down.
“That was a big time play,” Thomas said. “LaMichael was the last guy to get to, usually don’t get to him so it kind of shocked him. But he made a good play catching the ball and getting up the sideline.
From there, James quickly punched the ball in for a touchdown two plays later, and the rout was on.
The Ducks quickly regained possession after UCLA was forced to punt, and Thomas put on a passing clinic. The sophomore completed 11 of his first 12 passes, and the Bruins could do little to stop Oregon’s spread offense.
“I thought Darron was really key in terms of being able to get the ball distributed out all over the place,” Kelly said. “Part of being a spread team is making sure your receivers are involved and they just can’t pack the box. We got our receivers and Darron clicking like that, it’s a tough operation to stop.”
By the end of the first half, the game was essentially over with the scoreboard reading 32-3. UCLA had gained just 136 total yards compared to Oregon’s 357, despite having held the ball nearly ten minutes longer than the Ducks.
Things did not improve in the second half for the Bruins, as Oregon took the ball and quickly scored again on a touchdown pass from Thomas to wide receiver Jeff Maehl. The Bruins responded with a field goal, but those would be their last points until the end of the fourth quarter.
“Our guys were really playing downhill football,” Kelly said. “You hear people talk about, ‘Can you handle a rushing attack?’ We handled Stanford, we’ve handled UCLA now. It’s something to kind of learn from and build from.”
Even with backups such as quarterback Nate Costa and running Remene Alston logging significant time, Oregon continued to pile up the points. UCLA didn’t score its first touchdown until the 1:53 mark of the fourth quarter, with the final result already well in the books.
If Casey Matthews had his way, they wouldn’t have scored at all. Before that touchdown, no opponent had scored on Oregon in the fourth quarter.
“Obviously it’s a nice little stat to have,” Matthews said. “It is tough giving up points late, but we’re still happy about our performance.”
By the final whistle, Thomas had thrown for a career-high 308 yards to go along with three touchdowns. LaMichael James gathered 123 yards on the ground and two touchdowns while also tying the school record for 100-yard games (14).
Jeff Maehl had another 100-yard receiving day, and senior Remene Alston added three of his own touchdowns.
Oregon outgained UCLA in total yards 582-290, and the Bruin rushing attack averaged just 2.8 yards per carry.
In the end, Kelly couldn’t have been more pleased with the performance.
“It was a total team effort,” he said. “That’s what makes us a special group.”
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Oregon continues to dominate on both sides of ball with 60-13 thrashing of UCLA
Daily Emerald
October 21, 2010
Ivar Vong
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