Bruins Get a Half-Life, Rout Huskies, 46-16

UCLA had just unleashed 30 minutes of fury on 18th-ranked Washington, scoring 39 unanswered second-half points for a stunning 46-16 Pacific 10 Conference victory over the Huskies before 68,319 in the Rose Bowl, when Bruin receiver Craig Bragg came up with a scary thought.

“We put a whole half together today,” said Bragg, a junior who had eight receptions for 142 yards, a top-of-the-newscast type performance most days but a footnote amid UCLA’s defensive demolition of Washington. “Maybe next week we’ll put a whole game together, and who knows what could happen?”

Against hapless Arizona, which has lost 12 of its last 14 games, has the Pac-10’s worst offense and defense and fired its coach last Sunday? The Bruins put up 46 against the Pac-10’s second-ranked defense Saturday. With the Wildcats scheduled for next week ... do we hear 100?

“We finally had the execution we wanted,” said Bruin Coach Karl Dorrell, who silenced some of his critics with Saturday’s win. “We played well in spurts [against San Diego State] last week, but today, in the second half, we put all three phases of the game together.... It was a great win, but we can still be a lot better.”

An inconsistent, mistake-prone Bruin offense put together its best game of the year, racking up 392 yards, with sophomore Drew Olson completing 16 of 24 passes for 258 yards, a confidence-building performance that should keep quarterback Matt Moore on the bench for at least another week.

But this UCLA comeback was built on defense, on a stingy Bruin unit that, in the second half, recovered one fumble for a touchdown, returned an interception for a touchdown, intercepted two more passes that led to a field goal and easy touchdown, and took Washington’s All-American receiver Reggie Williams virtually out of the game.

Defensive tackle Rodney Leisle, tethered to the sidelined while serving a first-half suspension for his personal foul and ejection in the San Diego State game, recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown on the first play of the third quarter -- and his first play of the game -- and intercepted a deflected pass to snuff out a Washington threat late in the quarter.

Defensive end Dave Ball had a phenomenal game, with two forced fumbles and 4 1/2 tackles for 19 yards in losses, including 3 1/2 sacks for a loss of 18 yards. And cornerback Matt Ware, after being assigned exclusively to Williams late in the first quarter, neutralized the Huskies’ NFL-bound receiver, who had 10 catches for 105 yards but only two for 25 yards in the second half.

“We have a great defense, one of the best I’ve seen in all of college football,” Bragg said. “I wouldn’t want to face us every week.”

After 30 minutes, UCLA (3-2) looked like a strong candidate for the Silicon Valley Classic or the Las Vegas Bowl. Washington scored the first 13 points, with quarterback Cody Pickett picking apart the Bruins with quick passes and the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Williams dominating Matt Clark, the 5-9, 174-pound cornerback initially assigned to him.

UCLA didn’t enter Washington territory until Bragg made a diving catch of an Olson bomb for a 41-yard gain with 10 minutes 19 seconds left in the second quarter, a play that set up Tyler Ebell’s seven-yard touchdown run that pulled the Bruins to within six points, 13-7. But the Huskies (3-2) took a 16-7 lead on Evan Knudson’s 37-yard field goal as the second quarter expired.

Then came two consecutive Washington decisions that turned the momentum toward UCLA. Roc Alexander fielded the second-half kickoff three yards deep in his end zone and, after hesitating, ran it out. Bad move. Alexander was smothered at the seven-yard line.

Pickett then dropped back to pass on the first play -- into his own end zone -- and fumbled after being hit by Ball, with Leisle recovering for a touchdown that trimmed the Huskies’ lead to 16-14.

UCLA took the lead with an impressive 14-play, 91-yard drive that included Olson’s rollout pass to Manuel White for 15 yards, a 25-yard pass to Bragg on third and 11 and White’s one-yard touchdown run with 4:19 left in the third quarter. Olson’s pass to White for a two-point conversion made it 22-16, Bruins.

Washington drove from its 20 to the UCLA 15 on its next possession, but a Pickett pass hit fullback Zach Tuiasosopo in the face mask, caromed into the air and was snagged by Leisle for the interception.

The Bruins steamrolled the Huskies in the fourth quarter, with Jarrad Page returning an interception 24 yards for a touchdown, Olson running one yard for a score and Justin London’s interception setting up Maurice Drew’s late nine-yard touchdown run.

On one series in the fourth quarter, Ball caught Pickett from behind for a two-yard sack on first down, Ball and his twin brother Mat combined to sack Pickett on second down -- the count on the play: two Balls, one strike -- and Dave Ball sacked Pickett for a seven-yard loss on third down.

Ware was another huge key to the defense. After Williams caught four passes for 44 yards against Clark in the first nine minutes, defensive coordinator Larry Kerr assigned Ware exclusively to Williams with 5:36 left in the quarter. Williams had a great first half but was not a factor in the second.

“We made some adjustments, tightened the cushion on the receivers and played better in the second half,” Clark said. “We disguised our coverage, put some pressure on Pickett, got some sacks, and the secondary played better.”

All in all, a pretty good half.