Bears Had Bruins on the Run All Day

Before the game, the California players ran through the stands at Memorial Stadium. Afterward, they ran gleefully off the field. During the game, they ran all over UCLA, which could mean just one thing: Cal must be in the running for the Rose Bowl.

On a sunny Saturday, California’s stunning 38-31 victory over UCLA will surely be remembered as the end of the line for the Bruins, currently running from embarrassment.

Not only had the Bears’ victory, built on 311 yards rushing, ended UCLA’s 18-game winning streak over California, but it also laid waste to the Bruins’ chances for the Rose Bowl. UCLA dropped to 2-2 in the Pac-10 and while two losses doesn’t automatically eliminate a team from the Rose Bowl, it comes pretty close.

It was a pleasure, the California players said.

“We ran it down their throats,” 6-foot-7, 275-pound sophomore tackle Troy Auzenne said. “I kind of wish there were a fifth quarter so we could run it down their throats a little more.”

You can forgive Auzenne his enthusiasm since he was 2 years old in 1971, which until Saturday was the last time the Bears beat UCLA. What’s more, California’s 38 points are the most the Bears has scored against UCLA since 1968, but it wasn’t nearly enough, said right tackle Ernie Rogers.

“It’s so much fun to beat these guys,” said Rogers, a 6-foot-5, 290-pound senior. “They look down upon us. When I was in high school, (UCLA) canceled my recruiting visit. And they told Troy he was a dime a dozen.”

What the Bruins wish they had is a defense against the run. UCLA was ranked No. 8 in the Pacific 10 Conference in rushing defense and doesn’t figure to move up any after Saturday’s shredding.

California gained 466 yards total offense, an average of 5.8 yards a play. In the first half, Bears’ runners averaged 6.4 yards a carry.

Said Auzenne: “Our scouts knew their defense better than (UCLA) did. They’re not that physical, so I knew we could run against them.”

Maybe so, but nobody expected the Cal players to come onto the field to begin the game by running down through the stands. Coach Bruce Snyder came up with the idea Friday night.

Bears’ quarterback Mike Pawlawski said fans were all over him on his trip through the stands, although no one snatched any of the three earrings adorning his left ear lobe.

“People were hugging me, hitting me on the shoulders, picking me up,” Pawlawski said. “People I don’t even know.”

Snyder--wearing a T-shirt that said on the back, The Streak Ends Here, Oct. 20, 1990--said his team’s bleacher entry was a psychological ploy.

“To give our student body a lift and to give our team a lift,” Snyder said. “That’s not what won the game, but it was just a mind-set.”

The Bears (5-2 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-10) are in a pretty nice frame of mind going into next Saturday’s game at Washington.

“Life’s great, huh?” Snyder said, grinning. “The monkey is off our back. We were gonna direct every single ounce of energy to get this thing off our back.”

California also did that by running the ball extremely well against UCLA. Senior tailback Anthony Wallace and sophomore tailback Russell White took turns wrecking the UCLA defense. Wallace had 134 yards in 28 carries and White had 125 yards in 25 carries.

White scored on a five-yard run and bowed majestically to the UCLA cheering section.

“Just giving my respect,” White explained. “I’m not really gonna downtalk (UCLA). They are a good team, but we were better today.”

And what about the streak?

“What streak?” White asked. “My streak started today.”