Bruins Go to Fresno for Victory Over Cal

The play is called “Fresno,” a tribute to the university’s big raisin, football Coach Jim Sweeney. UCLA put “Fresno” in this week, when Sweeney announced his retirement.

Skip Hicks took the fourth-quarter screen pass from Cade McNown, outran California defensive end Jeremiah Parker with ease, then shifted into high gear to coast away from Kevin Devine and shake Kato Serwanga from his shoulders as easily as a bull would a fly.

“Fresno” was golden in UCLA’s 38-29 victory over Cal before 54,000 on Saturday.

It gained 63 yards and gave the Bruins a 31-21 lead and control of the game, and it also made the message on the scoreboard a lie. “The Fourth Quarter Is Ours,” the board read, repeating a slogan, storied in song and T-shirt when the Bears held a 5-0 record two weeks ago.

No more.

“We have a little pride and think we can play in the fourth quarter too,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “We felt that if we were still playing in the fourth quarter, we had just as good a chance as they did.”

Better, actually, after Fresno and after Hicks scored his fourth touchdown of the game, from a yard out, for UCLA’s final points.

For Hicks and the UCLA defense and special teams, Saturday provided retribution of a sort. Much maligned after a miserable effort at Washington a week ago, the Bruin kickoff-coverage team served notice that it was ready to stack some folks on the game’s opening play.

Using a new scheme of kicking the ball down the middle of the field, instead of trying to kick to a corner, UCLA held Cal’s Deltha O’Neal on the 22-yard line on his return.

As incongruous as it seems, it was important. The Bruins had given up 60 yards on the opening kickoff a week ago.

The defense added its vote on third down of the first series when Weldon Forde sacked Bear quarterback Pat Barnes, forcing a fumble that Travis Kirschke recovered.

That led to Bjorn Merten’s 36-yard field goal and a 3-0 UCLA lead.

“They were big, big plays,” Toledo said. “They sent a message to the rest of the team.”

Message received, particularly by Hicks, who came within a play of losing his job after struggling in recent weeks. After a rare midseason scrimmage, Toledo said, “Anybody who fumbled would have a hard time seeing the field.”

Hicks held the ball, kept his job and celebrated with 146 yards in 28 carries, and 113 yards in four receptions against Cal. It was his personal best in all-purpose yards, far surpassing the 175 he had at Oregon three weeks ago. He added touchdown runs of 34 and eight yards in the third quarter to his two fourth quarter scoring runs.

And, yes, the scrimmage Tuesday was a wakeup call.

“I just had to get [the last couple of weeks] out of my head,” Hicks said. “I haven’t been having any fun, and this week my goal was to come out here and have fun.”

Another struggling unit had its day. UCLA’s defense gave up Barnes’ school-record 435 yards on 26-of-57 passing, but the Bruins intercepted one pass and sacked him seven times. He had been sacked only nine times in the previous six games.

“You have to give UCLA credit,” Barnes said. “Out offense didn’t get in sync today. In some respects, I thought we beat ourselves, but their defense did a fine job.”

Mostly that fine job was in disguising blitzes, and holding tailback Brandon Willis in check, making Cal pass to move the ball.

Willis had 64 yards in 17 carries and scored from a yard out to give the Bears a 7-3 lead in the first quarter, countered by Keith Brown’s four-yard run for his first college touchdown and a 10-7 UCLA lead.

By then, the Bruin defense had forced a Ryan Longwell field-goal try that was hooked left. It was only the second field-goal attempt against UCLA all season, and it ended a series that began when the Bruins’ Paul Guidry fumbled a punt on the UCLA 27.

Sudden-change defense has not been UCLA’s long suit lately.

“But it was something we worked on this week,” safety Larry Atkins said, “and it helped pick us up after we stopped them on that series.”