Quarterback Switch Fails at Goal Line

The Bruins’ 46-38, triple-overtime loss to California on Saturday invites scrutiny of several sequences in regulation play, none more glaring than a UCLA drive in the second quarter. It included 15 plays, covered 73 yards, lasted nearly eight minutes and produced zero points.

After Cal scored two touchdowns within a minute to grab a 21-7 lead, UCLA advanced slowly but surely from its 26 to the Cal one, on a drive that featured tailback Akil Harris rushing eight times for 36 yards. With the Bruins poised to score, Drew Bennett replaced Cory Paus at quarterback.

“He is our goal-line, short-yardage quarterback,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “He does provide the threat of an option.”

But Bennett did not run the option. On third down, Bennett simply handed off to Harris, who gained nothing. Toledo stuck with Bennett again, but a fourth-down pass toward tight end Gabe Crecion was batted away by Cal safety Nnamdi Asomugha. On the sideline, Paus appeared less than thrilled, but Toledo declined to second-guess his decision to try Bennett twice.

“He throws the ball well enough to pick out one guy and hit him, but we want to have that threat of an option,” Toledo said. “That’s the main reason we have him there. Obviously, it didn’t work.”

Bennett did run a fourth-down option play in the first quarter, but he appeared to lose his footing momentarily and lost two yards. In the fourth quarter, Toledo pulled two other tricks from his bag, both unsuccessful--wide receiver Tab Perry lost five yards running a reverse, and running back Ed Ieremia-Stansbury threw an incomplete pass on a halfback option.

In the first overtime, when UCLA had the ball at the Cal one, Toledo stuck with Paus. The Bruins called two quarterback sneaks, with Paus stopped for no gain on the first and leaping above his linemen and into the end zone on the second.

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UCLA faces Oregon State on Saturday, and the Bruins and Beavers passed each other in this week’s Associated Press top 25 poll. The Bruins (4-2) skidded from No. 13 to No. 23, while the Beavers (5-1) climbed from No. 23 to No. 19. UCLA has not played a ranked Oregon State team since 1968, when then-No. 15 OSU clobbered the Bruins, 45-21.