Defense Survives Pressure Cooker

All eyes were on the UCLA offense.

All the pressure was on the Bruin defense.

“I mean, Rusty Williams, our emotional leader, put it best,” defensive tackle Steve Morgan said. “He said everybody in the country knows this game is going to be won or lost by the defenses.”

With UCLA’s offense down to its choice of two freshman quarterbacks and one phenomenal freshman tailback, the defense figures the season is on its shoulders.

The Stanford game certainly was during the fourth quarter Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

UCLA’s lead was only four points when cornerback Ricky Manning Jr. intercepted a pass by freshman Kyle Matter in Cardinal territory, setting up a Bruin field goal.

And the lead was still only seven points when Stanford went for it on fourth and one from their 29 with a little more than six minutes left.

“We were pretty much ready for everything,” tackle Ryan Boschetti said. “But the guard in front of me started to crouch a little bit more. We knew the run was coming right when they did that, stayed real low in their stance.

“I shot my gap, threw my guard by and then I stood [running back Kerry Carter] up and grabbed on for dear life as Marcus [Reese] came and cleaned him up.”

Later, with only a little more than a minute left and UCLA leading by 10, the defense faced a dire situation again as Stanford went for a first down from fourth and 15 at the Bruin 19.

Matter, under pressure, scrambled, was wrapped up and somehow flung the ball to Kenneth Tolon for what looked like a touchdown.

“I don’t know how he got it off, because I actually got his leg and kind of hog-tied him,” Boschetti said. “I came up with what I thought was his sock. It was really the towel he keeps to wipe his hands off. I thought for sure I had sacked him.

“Then I saw that he threw it and I’m thinking, ‘Aw!’

“Then I realize I’m sitting about three yards in front of the line [of scrimmage.]”

The flag was already on the ground. Matter was over the line of scrimmage. UCLA ball -- and ballgame. Bruins win, 28-18.

Those were only a few key situations, but UCLA’s defense came through again and again despite a 15-0 hole after two fumbles deep in UCLA territory led to two Stanford touchdowns in the first five minutes.

From that point on, Stanford managed only a 42-yard field goal.

The Bruins played with tremendous aggressiveness, sacking Matter six times and dropping Cardinal players for losses 12 times.

Linebacker Brandon Chillar had two sacks, and Morgan was credited with 1 1/2 sacks and 3 1/2 tackles for losses.

“We were just playing aggressive, running a lot of stunts, a lot of blitzes, and trying to confuse them,” Reese said.

That’s a game plan that works against another team’s freshman quarterback.

What about when the Bruins face Cody Pickett, Carson Palmer and Jason Gesser?

“You can do that against a veteran quarterback too,” Reese said. “The main thing we’ve got to do is cover. People don’t notice how good Ricky Manning and Matt Ware were covering.”

Last season slipped away, with four losses in a row and the suspension of tailback DeShaun Foster.

The Bruins were dealt a blow this season when quarterback Cory Paus broke an ankle, but Morgan said there won’t be another collapse.

“This team is not like that,” he said. “We kind of did that last year. We set our goals extremely high, and once we lost a couple of games, I think a lot of people threw in the towel. This year, our goal was team unity. As long as we stay unified, we’re going to overcome adversity together.”

Especially the defense.

“We just know we’ve got to step it up,” Manning said. “From now on, we’ve got to give our quarterback second and third chances to get it going.”