COLLEGE FOOTBALL / WEEK 2 : UCLA GAME REPORT

FIVE KEY MOMENTS

1. What’s the sound of an entire UCLA crowd worrying? The 1999 Bruin football season seemed to teeter and wobble to the listing arc of quarterback Drew Bennett’s final fling of the first quarter, a 10-yard pass to Freddie Mitchell that was high and away. The Rose Bowl crowd groaned, having already witnessed four earlier failed Bennett completions (and only one completed pass), including an interception. The Bruins settled for a field goal. The Bennett era officially went on hiatus.

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2. The Paus that refreshes: And into the game trotted redshirt freshman Cory Paus, one jersey number lower, three inches shorter, several seasons less experienced but visibly more effective than Bennett. A one-man shot of adrenaline, Paus entered the game with 5:18 left in the first quarter, and immediately zipped passes for completions in his first two throws.

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3. Tailback DeShaun Foster made Paus look good quickly, taking a screen pass and blasting past several defenders for 23 yards into Boise State territory late in the first quarter. With the Bronco defense swarming wherever he went, Foster was busy but clogged up early. This was his biggest gain of the game, and set up his four-yard scoring run, UCLA’s first touchdown.

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4. Best Deion Sanders imitation of the night: Bruin cornerback Julius Williams juked a couple of lunging Broncos on his way to a scintillating 53-yard interception return for a touchdown--also in the second quarter--to jump UCLA to a 17-0 lead and assert the UCLA defense’s athletic control.

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5. Later in the same second quarter, free safety Joey Strycula smashed open the game and showed that the Bruin defense hasn’t been completely ruined by suspensions. Strycula stepped in front of a slowly developing Bronco screen pass and returned it seven yards to the Boise State 16. That set up Paus’ first career touchdown throw, to Gabe Crecion, and gave UCLA a 24-0 lead.