Bowl Game Gives UCLA a Last Shot

After UCLA closed the regular season with four straight losses, the last an ego-crushing 47-22 defeat at the hands of rival USC on Nov. 22, Bruin defensive end Dave Ball said he didn’t want to “go out a loser -- I want to leave the field with my head up one last time.”

Ball and his teammates will have that chance, their reprieve coming with Tuesday’s invitation for UCLA to play Fresno State in the Silicon Valley Classic at San Jose State’s Spartan Stadium on Dec. 30.

The Rose Bowl it isn’t, but the Bruins (6-6) will have an opportunity to wipe the bitter taste of their four-game losing streak out of their mouths with a victory over the Bulldogs (8-5), and their struggling offense should benefit from another two or three weeks of practice.

There is a remote possibility UCLA would play Tulsa instead of Fresno State -- the invitation to the Bulldogs was contingent on two Big 12 teams making BCS bowl games, and that appears to be certain with Oklahoma (first) and Texas (sixth) rated among the top six teams in Monday’s rankings. Either way, UCLA is a lock.

“This bowl will give our seniors the opportunity to leave UCLA on a good note,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell, who was out of state on a recruiting trip, said in a school-issued statement. “For our younger players, they can gain valuable experience with additional practice time.”

Garnering the Silicon Valley invitation was a victory in itself for UCLA. The Bruins tied Washington for sixth place in the Pacific 10 Conference, but after meeting for 1 1/2 hours Tuesday afternoon, the five-member Silicon bowl committee chose the Bruins over the Huskies. UCLA beat Washington, 46-16, on Oct. 4.

“A lot of factors came into play,” said bowl chairman Greg Jamison, president and chief executive of Silicon Valley Sports Entertainment, the parent company of the San Jose Sharks.

“It was a combination of head-to-head competition, the number of people we think could come to the bowl, [UCLA] alumni in the Bay Area, [the number of people] who could travel.”

Fresno State, which has played in the three previous Silicon Valley Classics, has a history of strong support -- their fans are known as “The Red Wave” -- and with UCLA and the Pac-10 guaranteeing at least 8,000 tickets, bowl officials are expecting a crowd of more than 25,000 for the 7:30 p.m. game.

UCLA, 4-0 against Fresno State, also has 20 players from Northern California, including Dave and Mat Ball, quarterback Drew Olson, receiver Craig Bragg, tailback Maurice Drew, linebacker Spencer Havner and safety Jarrad Page.