Perhaps it was just a little too much euphoria.After an emotional homecoming victory at the Rose Bowl against Stanford last Saturday, the California Bears (5-2, 3-1 Pac-10) shoved, beat down, and demoralized an optimistic Bruin team, 41-20, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
Mistakes, untimely errors, and poor decisions resulted in a ghastly stat-line on both sides of the ball.
Junior quarterback Kevin Craft threw four picks – three in the first half.
"I don't think four picks, two of them for touchdowns, is good play by any quarterback," Craft said.
The numbers in the second half could have mirrored that of his first had the Cal defense gripped his overthrown footballs a little more tightly.
Junior Cal defensive back Marcus Ezeff returned one for 69 yards in the second quarter to give the Bears a double digit lead.
If that was a momentum shifter, than Mike Mohammed’s 19-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter supplanted the Bruins firmly into a spiraling abyss.
Craft has thrown 11 interceptions and seven touchdown passes this season.
His bipolar play – headiness in the second halves against Tennessee and Stanford – and terribly inaccurate play in the first halves of both those games – has given Neuheisel reason to open up quarterback competition.
"The idea is to evaluate everybody, and Kevin will be under evaluation and we'll decide who gives us the best chance to win," Neuheisel said.
As if that weren’t enough, UCLA netted just 16 yards on the ground.
The patchwork offensive line keeled over and over again, which has also allowed 3.0 sacks a game this season, tied for 112th in the nation.
“We have not achieved the ability to take pressure off our quarterback by just being able to hand off and make four-, five-, six-yard gains,” explained a understandably frustrated Coach Rick Neuheisel.
Junior Cal defensive back Marcus Ezeff returned one for 69 yards in the second quarter to give the Bears a double digit lead.
If that was a momentum shifter, than Mike Mohammed’s 19-yard touchdown return in the fourth quarter supplanted the Bruins firmly into a spiraling abyss.
Craft has thrown 11 interceptions and seven touchdown passes this season.
His bipolar play – headiness in the second halves against Tennessee and Stanford – and terribly inaccurate play in the first halves of both those games – has given Neuheisel reason to open up quarterback competition.
"The idea is to evaluate everybody, and Kevin will be under evaluation and we'll decide who gives us the best chance to win," Neuheisel said.
As if that weren’t enough, UCLA netted just 16 yards on the ground.
The patchwork offensive line keeled over and over again, which has also allowed 3.0 sacks a game this season, tied for 112th in the nation.
“We have not achieved the ability to take pressure off our quarterback by just being able to hand off and make four-, five-, six-yard gains,” explained a understandably frustrated Coach Rick Neuheisel.
Back-up redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Forcier, who replaced Craft in the fourth quarter, was the leading rusher.
His lone carry nearly amounted to half of UCLA’s total ground production.
His lone carry nearly amounted to half of UCLA’s total ground production.
Senior running back Kahlil Bell had just 5 yards on 6 carries. Meanwhile, the Bears gained 234 yards rushing, with Jahvid Best contributing 116 off just 17 carries.
The Bruins have now given up more than 200 yards rushing in three consecutive games.
The Bruins have now given up more than 200 yards rushing in three consecutive games.
Despite this, Neuheisel has taken this plight in positive light – strictly adhering to his “relentlessly positive” mantra.
"We're not right now currently involved in the Pacific 10 title race, so this is an opportunity to get some valuable experience for our young players," said Neuheisel.
"We're not right now currently involved in the Pacific 10 title race, so this is an opportunity to get some valuable experience for our young players," said Neuheisel.
The Bruins did have a 7-3 lead when Freshman safety Glenn Love recovered a blocked punt in the first quarter.
But nothing else would click for the Bruins.
Down 20-13 in the fourth, the Bruins turned to punter Aaron Perez – not to boot a 67 yard punt as he did earlier in the game– but to convert a fourth-and 23 - using his arms.
The pass to Courtney Viney amassed 22 yards – a yard short.
The very next play from scrimmage, Cal quarterback Kevin Riley bombed a 53-yard flew flicker into endzone to give the Bears a double-digit lead they would never fail to relinquish.
But nothing else would click for the Bruins.
Down 20-13 in the fourth, the Bruins turned to punter Aaron Perez – not to boot a 67 yard punt as he did earlier in the game– but to convert a fourth-and 23 - using his arms.
The pass to Courtney Viney amassed 22 yards – a yard short.
The very next play from scrimmage, Cal quarterback Kevin Riley bombed a 53-yard flew flicker into endzone to give the Bears a double-digit lead they would never fail to relinquish.
UCLA (3-5, 2-3 Pac-10) now has to take three of the next four games to become bowl eligible. Two games are on the road; UCLA has yet to win a game away from the Rose Bowl.
"In the back of our heads, you know about the bowl stuff, but you try not to think about that," UCLA defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said. "We're trying to win a game right now. That's what we're trying to do. We don't think about bowl games. We are trying to get another victory."
