The Day the Boos Turned to Cheers : UCLA’s Matt Stevens Says: ‘Playing QB in L.A. Is Great’

There were boos raining down on UCLA quarterback Matt Stevens when he left the game midway through the second quarter Saturday at the Rose Bowl, and they were even louder when he came back in a few minutes later.

But he left the stadium to a standing ovation.

Oh, how fickle hometown fans can be.

“Playing QB in L.A. is great,” Stevens said, beaming, after orchestrating UCLA’s 32-25 comeback victory over Arizona. “That’s the way it always is.

“You want to talk about somebody getting booed? How about Rick Neuheisel? Was he getting booed here when we were 0-3-1? He really got booed. And look what a great quarterback he turned out to be.”

After that 0-3-1 start in 1983, Neuheisel brought the Bruins back to win the Rose Bowl.

It’s the same old story, only the faces on these senior quarterbacks change: The Bruins get the season off to a slow start; the quarterback who has been waiting four years for his chance comes under fire; he then directs a couple of heart-stopping comebacks in crucial Pac-10 games, and the Bruins end up on television on New Year’s Day.

Stevens, who has not won many hearts in his first few games as a starter, was on shaky ground when the Bruins went to the locker room at halftime trailing, 18-0. But after leading the Bruins to a 25-point rally in the fourth quarter, he was able to be quite philosophical about it.

“I can take the blame and the boos when things aren’t going our way,” Stevens said. “The boos don’t bother me. It doesn’t get me down. Well, I mean, I hear them. I don’t enjoy it. But I know that there are things that the average fan might not know about, whether it’s a broken play or somebody misses a block. I know whether it’s my fault or not.

“I didn’t feel too bad when Coach (Terry) Donahue took me out and put Brendan (McCracken) in, because of what he was telling me when he did it.”

Although some in the crowd at the Rose Bowl might have been thinking that they had seen the last of Matt Stevens, he was not seeing his career flashing before his eyes.

“When he took me out for a series, it was a panic situation,” Stevens said. “We were getting killed. But he told me he just wanted me to get away from it for a while because I was probably going to have to go back in and win the game for us. . . .

“It was great to have Rick on the sidelines, too. He helped me.”

Neuheisel, now a volunteer assistant coach, was at Donahue’s side while the quarterbacking decisions were being made.

Donahue said: “We’ve said all along that we’re going to play two quarterbacks. We’ll go with Brendan with the wishbone in short yardage situations, and with Matt when we want to get up the field.

“I took Matt out because I just didn’t want our quarterback to suffer what all quarterbacks having a rough day have to suffer--a loss of confidence when the fans get upset.”

By halftime, Stevens’ statistics were unimpressive. He had passed for 73 yards, had rushed for 2 and had helped the Bruins to a total of just 97.

But after the Bruin defense accounted for UCLA’s first touchdown of the game in the third quarter, after James Washington’s interception and Darryl Henley’s 54-yard fumble return, momentum shifted.

The crowd’s mood shifted, too, and all of a sudden things started to click for the Bruin offense.

Early in the fourth quarter, Stevens completed an eight-yard pass to fullback Mel Farr on fourth and two to keep his first scoring drive alive. Dave Franey kicked a 29-yard field goal, and the Bruins were on their way.

On the team’s next series, Stevens found Paco Craig with a step on his defender about 50 yards upfield, and Craig turned that pass play into a 78-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion pass failed. But the next series ended with Gaston Green’s 10-yard touchdown run and a good two-point pass play to fullback Marcus Greenwood.

In recounting that scoring spree, Stevens said: “It was feeling like the Bruins of old. I knew we could play like that, but we just had not done it against a top opponent like Arizona.

“I really feel good about this game. I think we’ll continue to play like this now.”

Stevens finished the day with a career high 284 yards passing, completing 22 of 37. He didn’t even get worried when Arizona made a late surge of its own.

Said Donahue: “He’s 21. He’s bold and brash. I’m 42 and worn out. I was worried.

“I thought that we would win, but I was worried.”