Bruins Must Stick Landing

Now that they’ve finished the compulsory portion of their season, the UCLA Bruins have entered the free-skate phase.

They had their share of shaky landings against California on Saturday.

In their first five games, they beat the ranked opponents they needed to merit their No. 2 ranking. For the rest of the way, it’s all about style.

Simply winning might not be enough. Just ask Joe Paterno, whose 1994 Penn State team won all of its games but didn’t get even a share of the national championship. Their mistake was failing to blow out Indiana and slipping from the No. 1 spot the next week.

Most of the media members who vote in the Associated Press poll and the coaches who vote in the ESPN/USA Today poll (which are parts of the Bowl Championship Series formula) have only the scores and a few highlights to form their opinions.

In the case of UCLA’s 28-16 victory over Cal, that might actually be a blessing. As unimpressive as that score might sound, it doesn’t indicate how easily the Bruins could have lost this game.

If not for a pair of goal-line stands, UCLA’s undefeated record and national championship hopes could have gone up in the puff of smoke that emerges from the hillside cannon every time Cal scores.

The Bruins had more fumbles (two) than offensive plays (one) for the first 4 1/2 minutes of the game. They surrendered 113 yards on 12 penalties. California’s blitzing defense got the better of UCLA’s offensive line and the Bears’ punter, Nick Harris, would have been the player of the game had his team won.

The Bruins began the third quarter on their 33-yard line, and that was as close as they got to the Cal end zone for the next 14 1/2 minutes. It was far from a dominant performance. Even though Cal entered with a winning record (4-2), the highly ranked teams are supposed to win these types of matchups on sheer talent. Instead, the Bruins got by on some grit and one gimmick.

“I just wish we could go out there and just handle them,” UCLA wide receiver Brian Poli-Dixon said. “We need to put teams away and just let them know that we’re the No. 2 team in the nation and that we’re going to come out and smash them in the mouth and dominate the game. I was a little disappointed that our offense didn’t take advantage of what we had, but their kicker was just phenomenal the whole game.”

In Saturday’s column I wrote the Bruins didn’t need trick plays to win this season. Scratch that. Without Jermaine Lewis’ halfback option pass to Jon Dubravac early in the fourth quarter for the final score, this game would have been in doubt until the end.

The Bruins have yet to put together an all-encompassing performance in which they’re on in every department. In that respect they don’t look like a No. 2 team. As was the case in their thrilling 41-38 victory over Oregon last week, the best thing the Bruins had going for them Saturday was their ability to come up with just enough things to win.

For most of the game the UCLA defense indeed looked second-ranked, not second-rate. California scored against it, but it came on a one-play, two-yard drive that followed a Cade McNown fumble.

Starting with the last California possession of the first half, the defense yielded 177 yards on three out of four drives.

The Bears had only one touchdown to show for it, because UCLA recovered a fumble at the two-yard line and stopped the Bears just shy of the goal line on fourth down the next time Cal threatened to score.

California questioned the fumble call, in which Bruin safety Larry Atkins lost the ball as he tried to scoop it up and run the other way and then a Cal lineman covered it. The officials ruled Atkins’ knee was down and thus the play was dead when he had the ball, although a few milliseconds hardly qualifies as a possession.

Still, teams have to make plays to get breaks. Linebacker Robert Thomas hit Cal fullback Josh White to pop the ball loose in the first place. So the Bruins led 21-9 at halftime instead of 21-16.

In that case, the Bruins were glad to take over on their two and run out the clock. But most of their poor field position was because of Harris, the Cal punter who averaged 45.1 yards on nine kicks. Although the Bruins gained 381 yards of offense, they needed most of it just to get to midfield.

Average UCLA starting field position was on its 18-yard line. Six times the Bruins started inside their 10, three times inside the two. (Cal’s average drive started at its 41).

Those are the kinds of statistics the voters won’t see.

So the Bruins have to do some politicking. Bruin Coach Bob Toledo managed to mention the fact that the Bruins have the nation’s longest active winning streak (16 games) twice within the span of 45 seconds in his television interview on the field afterward. A good idea, just in case any voters were watching.

After making the media wait while he received treatment after the game, McNown thanked them for their patience. Smart thinking, in case any of them had votes.

The Bruins know the reality is their opponents won’t go quietly.

“It’s not going to be a cakewalk,” Lewis said.

No, but the Bruins could use some more icing. If Tennessee and Kansas State rack up big numbers and stay undefeated themselves, they could conceivably overtake UCLA no matter how many games the Bruins win.

No, it isn’t only about winning.

“Another one for the record books, baby,” safety Jason Stephens yelled in the tunnel after the Bruins padded their school-record winning streak. “Another one for the record books.” There can be no debating that. It just wasn’t one for the art gallery.