The rapidly emptying Oregon student section said it all.
With a quarter of football still to be played and the Ducks (7-0, 4-0 Pacific-10 Conference) up 46-6 over UCLA (3-4, 1-3 Pac-10), many of the yellow-clad Oregon students in attendance had already left Autzen Stadium.
No one could blame them. On a school night, with a 60-13 win all but locked up, there wasn’t much left to see.
UCLA had already squandered several chances to at least temporarily halt the Oregon freight train.
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Bruins methodically drove the ball down the field. With the help of an Oregon facemasking penalty, UCLA moved the ball deep into Duck territory. But on a third down from the Oregon 30-yard line, quarterback Richard Brehaut’s deep pass was intercepted by Oregon safety John Boyett.
Opportunity wasted.
“We got off to a good start with a nice opening drive and unfortunately we threw a pick instead of capitalizing with some field position to get a field goal there on the opening drive,” UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said.
After an Oregon touchdown, UCLA again advanced the ball into Duck territory, but failed to come away with points. On a third and one from the Duck 46, Brehaut made a poor decision on a read-option, and UCLA was forced to punt.
Another Oregon touchdown quickly followed. Down 15-0, UCLA needed a score of its own to stay within striking distance of the Ducks.
For a while, it looked like the Bruins could accomplish just that. On a 13-play drive that took up seven minutes, UCLA advanced the ball all the way down to the Ducks’ seven-yard line. But on a third and three, running back Johnathan Franklin was stuffed, and the Bruins settled for a 25-yard Kai Forbath field goal.
Another opportunity wasted.
“We took another good drive down there but ended up with three points,” Neuheisel said. “But three points wasn’t going to be the answer tonight.”
Given UCLA’s difficulty in sustaining drives, it definitely wasn’t.
By the time the Bruins got the ball back, Oregon had scored again to extend its lead to 22-3. That hefty advantage gave the Oregon defense license to be even more aggressive.
“(Oregon’s) offense (gave) them that kind of leeway where they can be aggressive and take chances and get after your quarterback because they have such a lead,” Neuheisel said. “Their offense put them in that position.”
The high-octane Oregon attack faced little resistance from UCLA’s defense in accumulating 582 yards from scrimmage. Quarterback Darron Thomas threw for a career-high 308 yards and three touchdowns, and didn’t throw his first incompletion until there was only 5:04 left in the first half.
Facing such a big deficit, the Bruins had to deviate from what they do best — running the ball. While UCLA was successful on the ground at times, their passing attack wasn’t able to come up with enough big plays to put a dent into Oregon’s lead.
“I thought we ran the ball effectively,” Neuheisel said. “We obviously have to think of ways to create some more play action opportunities where we can get chunks of yardage.”
Brehaut, who started in place of the injured Kevin Prince, finished with a career-high 159 yards passing, but the Bruins didn’t stand a chance against the well-oiled Oregon offensive machine.
“(Oregon was) terrific tonight on all cylinders, the pace of play, the quarterback hitting almost everything,” Neuheisel said. “We (were) having a hard time keeping up.”
Of course, if the Bruins would have converted their earlier opportunities, it might have been a different ballgame.
“Our whole game plan was to eat the clock but if you’re going to do that you have to score so when you come away with only field goals it’s rough,” UCLA wide receiver Taylor Embree said.
[email protected]