Bruin Victory Is a Real Miss Adventure

Whether UCLA’s 6-3 victory over Illinois before 51,118 in the Rose Bowl Saturday night was a work of art or the crude finger-painting of a preschooler not even worthy of the refrigerator door depended on your perspective.

From the bottom of the mosh pit that was left in the wake of Illinois kicker John Gockman’s missed 43-yard field goal attempt with 27 seconds remaining, the 500th victory in UCLA football history -- and the first for Karl Dorrell as a head coach -- was a thing of beauty.

“That was exciting,” defensive tackle Rodney Leisle said after the Bruins kept Illinois (1-2) out of the end zone and intercepted highly touted quarterback Jon Beutjer three times. “A close game like this, you’re always on the edge. You don’t know if anyone’s gonna score, whether you’re gonna stop them at the end.”

From the offensive side of the ball, it was more of a beast. The Bruins dropped no fewer than five passes, two of which could have been touchdowns, and quarterback Drew Olson completed only 11 of 31 passes for 94 yards with one interception.

UCLA found some semblance of a running game -- Manuel White netted 102 yards in 18 carries in a performance that may have nudged Tyler Ebell out of the starting tailback job -- but the Bruins were five for 17 on third-down conversions and rarely came up with the big offensive play when needed.

It was the lowest scoring UCLA game since the Bruins’ 6-3 victory over Illinois in the 1991 John Hancock Sun Bowl, and if you thought that game was lackluster, this one may have eclipsed it.

If not for a perfect evening by freshman kicker Justin Medlock, who made a 28-yard field goal with 2 minutes 52 seconds left in the first quarter and a 48-yard field goal with 8:45 left in the second -- atoning for a 35-yard miss in last week’s 16-14 loss to Colorado -- UCLA (1-1) would have been shut out.

“I don’t even feel like we won the game, I feel the defense did,” Olson said. “It’s sickening to be an offensive player and to put the defense in a position where they have to make plays time after time. We need to get this thing rolling. We had too many drive-stoppers. We’ve got to execute and score more points.”

Dorrell spoke afterward about how pulling out a close game at the end could benefit UCLA down the road, build some character and team chemistry, but really, the Bruins were lucky they didn’t go to overtime Saturday night.

After stifling an Illinois offense that for the last four years has averaged 415 yards and 30.2 points a game under Coach Ron Turner, the Bruins allowed Beutjer to march the Illini 64 yards in 10 plays, from the Illinois 15-yard line with 3:02 left to the UCLA 21 with 32 seconds to play.

Beutjer completed seven of 10 passes for 64 yards on the drive, usually dumping to backs and receivers underneath coverage that was softer on the final drive than it was all game. The 6-foot-5 senior hit Mark Kornfeld for a big 19-yard gain over the middle with 1:25 left and Kelvin Hayden for eight yards on a slant pattern, creating fourth-and-two from the UCLA 21.

As Gockman lined up for a 38-yard field-goal attempt, UCLA tried to freeze the kicker by calling a timeout. That may have rattled someone on the Illini offensive line, because someone jumped for a five-yard false-start penalty.

Instead of a 38-yard attempt, Gockman was pushed back to 43 yards, and that extra distance may have been the difference in a kick that was wide left by a foot or two.

“I saw the ball go wide of my hand, so I thought it might not have been good,” said UCLA linebacker Brandon Chillar, who tied a career high with 13 tackles. “You never know, but that penalty could have been huge. That probably drove their offensive coordinator and their coaches nuts.”

Defensive end Mat Ball was on the bottom of the pile and was in a brief state of confusion before realizing the Bruins had held the lead.

“I didn’t see the kick -- I was trying to push the front line back,” Ball said. “I listened for the fans, and at first I thought we lost because I heard the Illinois crowd getting excited. Then I heard our crowd. It was one of the most fulfilling things I’ve gone through here.”

Dorrell was on the sideline, but he couldn’t tell whether the kick was good or not.

“I couldn’t see it,” Dorrell said. “I kind of listened for the crowd -- were they excited about a miss or a make? It was too close to tell. To be honest, I thought it was good.

“We tried to treat it like a basketball plan, ice the kicker with a timeout. Apparently, it was beneficial to us.”

Beutjer said he was “starting to get overtime plays in my head” as Gockman lined up for the field goal, and the Illini kicker, who was six for six on field-goal attempts this season, including a 29-yard shot with 4:15 left in the third quarter Saturday night, thought his team was headed for overtime, as well.

“It felt good going off my foot,” Gockman said. “I looked up and saw it was pulling left. I just pulled it a little bit. The [penalty] had nothing to do with it.”

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KEYS TO THE GAME

Mike DiGiovanna’s keys to the game, and how the Bruins measured up:

Protect the quarterback: Drew Olson was sacked five times for losses of 37 yards and was pressured often, but the sophomore did not take any brutal hits and escaped without injury.

Go on the attack: The Bruin defense didn’t create a turnover that resulted in a touchdown, but they had three interceptions, and Tim Warfield recovered punt returner Christian Morton’s fumble in the second quarter, setting up what turned out to be the game-deciding field goal.

Establish the run: UCLA showed considerable improvement over the first week, as Manual White rushed for 102 yards in 18 carries, but that didn’t seem to ease the pressure on Olson and the receivers, who had a miserable night.