Huskies Hold Drew Until the End

Maurice Drew scorched the Washington defense last season for touchdown runs of 47, 62, 58, 15 and 37 yards on the way to a school-record 322-yard rushing performance.

The number that will stick with the UCLA running back after his less-than-stellar showing Saturday night at the Rose Bowl was considerably smaller but no less sweet.

After being held to 32 yards in his first 13 carries, Drew spun into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run with 1 minute 8 seconds left to give the No. 20 Bruins the winning points during a 21-17 come-from-behind victory over the Huskies.

“To score those points to win the game [took] all that tension off our shoulders,” said Drew, whose 33-yard rushing tally was well short of his 92.7-yard average entering the game. “We pulled out a tough one.”

Drew might have figured that duplicating his production from last year’s game would be difficult against a Husky defense geared to stop him, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened during the first 59 minutes Saturday.

Washington stymied Drew early and forced the Bruins to rely on their passing game as they attempted to rally from a 10-point deficit in the second quarter.

“They just came out and played harder than us,” said Drew, who had 17 yards in seven carries at halftime. “I don’t know what people expected, but it was an eye-opener. We had to come out and work harder in the second half.”

Drew was central to UCLA’s fortunes last year as the Bruins came back from a 24-7 deficit in the first quarter on their way to a 37-31 victory. He amassed 169 yards in the first quarter and 235 by halftime.

It was a different story Saturday. The 5-foot-8, 205-pound junior had 15 yards in three carries in the first quarter, nearly all of them on a 14-yard run up the middle on UCLA’s second play from scrimmage.

Drew was not much of a factor in the second quarter, either, after Washington scored on the second play to take a 10-0 lead. Drew gained one yard on a third-and-one play on UCLA’s next drive to give the Bruins a first down at midfield, but he was held to no gain on the next play and carried only two more times, gaining one additional yard, in the quarter.

“Their front seven is a pretty good front seven,” UCLA quarterback Drew Olson said of the Washington defense. “That’s two games in a row we haven’t been able to run the ball well, and we’ll have to address that.”

Drew’s rushing struggles were pushed to the background momentarily late in the second quarter when he returned a punt 65 yards for an apparent touchdown. But a block-in-the-back penalty on Rodney Van negated the score, and UCLA’s ensuing drive ended when Washington linebacker Joe Lobendahn intercepted an Olson pass.

The Bruins went to the air to start the second half, with Drew relegated to almost an afterthought. On UCLA’s first two scoring drives after halftime, he carried the ball twice for a combined three yards.

Then, with Washington clinging to a 17-14 lead, Olson marched the Bruins to the Husky one-yard line by completing six of seven passes. Olson then handed the ball to Drew, who twisted into the end zone to complete the stirring rally.

“I’ll take a win with two yards rushing as long as we win the football game,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said.