FIRST QUARTER

Alabama 7, UCLA 0

THE SCORING: * Alabama 7, UCLA 0: Antonio Carter, 78-yard pass from Tyler Watts at 6:06. 91-yard drive, three plays. PAT--Neal Thomas (kick).

TURNING POINT: UCLA was blitzing and nearly sacked Watts inside the Alabama 10 on the scoring pass, but a mix-up in the secondary allowed Carter to streak down the right side uncovered.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Alabama Coach Dennis Franchione, in a game-time decision, started Watts at quarterback over Andrew Zow. Watts successfully ran the option in the early going. UCLA receiver Brian Poli-Dixon beat Gerald Dixon deep on UCLA’s second possession, but couldn’t hold on to a pass that would have put UCLA inside the Crimson Tide 20.

STAT WATCH: Alabama outgained UCLA ,165 yards to 35. Watts accounted for 119 of those yards, 96 passing and 23 rushing. Paus completed only one of four passes for four yards, but two misfires were balls that receivers dropped.

SECOND QUARTER

Alabama 10, UCLA 7

THE SCORING: * Alabama 10, UCLA 0: Thomas, 30-yard field goal at 13:49. 61-yard drive, 11 plays. * Alabama 10, UCLA 7: Ed Ieremia-Stansbury, 10-yard run at 8:30. 64-yard drive, 8 plays. PAT: Chris Griffith (kick).

TURNING POINT: UCLA, which had been stuffed on first-down running plays throughout the first quarter, passed on its first three plays of the quarter. The Bruins ended up punting, but on their next possession, Cory Paus connected with Tab Perry for a 14-yard completion, UCLA’s longest of the game to that point, and softened the Alabama defense. UCLA then ran on three consecutive plays, including the Ieremia-Stansbury touchdown.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: UCLA faced a third-and-three from the Alabama 16, but the Crimson Tide jumped offsides and UCLA got the first down without running a play. Two plays later, Ieremia-Stansbury scored.

STAT WATCH: UCLA punter Nate Fikse, who shanked his first punt for 25 yards, followed with punts of 54, 53 and 40 yards. UCLA was 0 for 5 on third-down conversion attempts in the first half.

THIRD QUARTER

UCLA 20, Alabama 10

THE SCORING: * UCLA 14, Alabama 10: Perry, 53-yard pass from Paus at 9:03. 48-yard drive, 3 plays. PAT--Griffith (kick). * UCLA 17, Alabama 10: Griffith 30-yard field goal at 6:45. 4-yard drive, 6 plays. * UCLA 20, Alabama 10: Griffith 45-yard field goal. 25-yard drive, 6 plays.

TURNING POINT: The UCLA defense, which held Alabama to three-and-out on its first two possessions of the second half, forced Alabama into a third-and-15 on its third possession. Ricky Manning then intercepted a Watts pass and returned it 14 yards to the Alabama 18. UCLA turned it into a field goal four plays later. Alabama seemed to regain some momentum, driving 36 yards to the UCLA 33, but Rodney Leslie disrupted a reverse play and caused and recovered a fumble. UCLA turned it into three more points.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: The first UCLA field goal of the quarter should have been a touchdown. On third-and-eight from the Alabama 17, Paus scrambled under pressure and did not spot tight end Bryan Fletcher, who was wide open in the end zone.

STAT WATCH: Paus, who threw for only 23 yards in the first half, completed four of nine passes for 90 yards in the third quarter. Watts completed only one of five passes for five yards in the quarter. Alabama had only 63 total yards in the quarter.

FOURTH QUARTER

UCLA 20, Alabama 17

THE SCORING: * UCLA 20, Alabama 17: Milons, 71-yard pass from Zow at 2:13. 92-yard drive, 4 plays.

TURNING POINT: Trailing 20-10 with 12:20 left to play, Alabama faced fourth and inches at the UCLA one. Instead of kicking a field goal to pull within a touchdown, the Crimson Tide went for it. Ahmaad Galloway took the pitch on the option, but Manning forced him out of bounds short of the end zone and the first down.

NOT IN THE SUMMARY: Alabama used two timeouts on its first drive of the fourth quarter. It drove to the UCLA one, but came away with no points. Alabama resorted to a hook-and-ladder and a few Hail Mary passes on its final drive because only 37 seconds remained. A game-winning or game-tying drive might have been possible had Alabama conserved those timeouts.

STAT WATCH: Poli-Dixon, the top returning receiver for UCLA, did not have a catch in the game, though he dropped three passes. Alabama was penalized 15 times for 93 yards. UCLA had no penalties.