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Thing is, his debut was with Washington and not UCLA, the latter of which seemed destined earlier this decade. And a return to the stadium in six weeks or so for Neuheisel, his players and the rabid fans of the Huskies was severely jeopardized by the Bruins' 23-20 victory in overtime.

UCLA had been outscored 105-14 in its three previous games, which included a 17-0 loss to California in the Rose Bowl.

"That team that just beat us played with guts and pride, and I've seen that on several occasions here," Neuheisel said. "We'll look at the entire game and be sick about what transpired."

Because at 6-3 overall and 5-1 in their league, the Huskies entered the game as the latest Pac-10 team in complete control of its New Year's Day destiny. Washington lost that when former UCLA walk-on Joey Strycula picked off a woeful Marques Tuiasosopo pass to start the extra session.

A few minutes later, Chris Griffith ended the game with a 22-yard field goal for UCLA.

"It wasn't a pretty thing," said UCLA coach Bob Toledo, who was given the Bruins' offensive coordinator's job over Neuheisel by Terry Donahue in 1994. "But we found a way to get it done."

UCLA did it with defense, and its target was Tuiasosopo. Two weeks ago, the 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior became the first major college player to pass for 300 yards and run for 200 in a 35-30 victory over Stanford.

Saturday, Tui went kaplooie, accumulating 134 yards on 12 completions and only 15 yards on 14 runs. And one of those passes went for 34 yards, which started a drive in the middle of the second quarter that the Huskies used to tie the game 14-14.

That was when the Bruins were just warming up to the devious ideas that were given to them by defensive coordinator Bob Field.

Depending on down, distance and overall feel, Field toyed with the Huskies by showing dummy defenses. He used his defensive ends, linebackers on some plays and defensive backs on others, to present false schemes to Tuiasosopo.

Then, as the Huskies quarterback called his signals, the Bruins changed up, dropped back or crept toward the line. The option was effectively nullified by UCLA's "stemming" tactics.

"We were keyed up," said cornerback Ricky Manning Jr., a true freshman from Fresno, Calif. "And we weren't ready to give up. We just had to execute, that's all that has been missing in our season."

Field took particular pleasure in firing Manning in from the edges. And Manning was nearly in a better position to yank the option flip and run for a score than Washington senior tailback Maurice Shaw.

"Overall, it worked out for us," Field said. "It depended on some factors, like their blocking scheme and what position we were in. But it was our No. 1 priority to keep him contained, not only on the option but when he scrambled. We didn't want his legs or his arms to beat us."

In fact, the Bruins used those appendages against Tuiasosopo.

Early in the second quarter, on a third-and-17 play from Washington's 13-yard line, Manning zipped by the left side of the Huskies' line and slammed into Tuiasosopo's backside. He fumbled, UCLA recovered and one play later DeShaun Foster scored from three yards out for a 14-7 lead.

UCLA strong safety Joey Strycula intercepts a pass to set up the game-winning field goal in overtime. (AP)

At the start of the second half, UCLA sophomore middle linebacker Robert Thomas plucked the ball from tailback Willie Hurst, and sophomore outside linebacker Ryan Nece recovered for the Bruins at the Huskies' 28-yard line.

Griffith ended the ensuing drive with a 35-yarder to knot it 17-17.

"They had two weeks to prepare," Neuheisel said. "And anytime you have two weeks to prepare ... "

The extra time came with a price, however, because of the attrition the Bruins continued to suffer at quarterback and on their offensive line. UCLA lost two starters, right guard Mike Saffer and center Troy Danoff, to season-ending injuries during that bye week 10 days ago.

But after Matt Phelan suffered a fractured collarbone in the first half Saturday, UCLA employed fourth-stringer James Ghezzi, a reserve guard, at center. True freshman Bryce Bohlander played left tackle, and right tackle Brian Polak started instead at right guard.

Micah Webb made his first start at right tackle, and the veteran of the group was Oscar Cabrera, starting for the eighth time at left guard.

At quarterback, Toledo was forced to put Ryan McCann, a redshirt freshman with 11 career attempts on his resume, into the fray when Cory Paus sustained a dislocated left clavicle early in the second quarter.

In spring drills and fall camp, the southpaw was McCan't, relegated to fourth-string status behind Drew Bennett, Paus and Scott McEwan. Had star recruit J.P. Losman not bolted for Tulane in August, McCann might have been even lower on the depth chart.

Against USC next Saturday, UCLA (4-6, 2-5) will try to extend its eight-game winning streak in the crosstown rivalry with its 44th and 45th different starters on the season.

"I have never even been associated with a team that had that many problems," Toledo said. "But they hung in there, and battled and fought. We're a banged-up, beat-up football team. Our defense did a fabulous job. A fabulous job."

So did DeShaun Foster (who had two touchdowns) and Keith Brown, UCLA tailbacks who combined to run for 114 yards. That helped the Bruins rack up 320 yards to 236 for the Huskies.

Neuheisel shook at least a dozen hands when he surveyed the grounds and his players an hour before kickoff, and he crossed the invisible midfield boundary line with a warm smile to greet UCLA wide receivers coach Ron Carragher.

That was the unit that Neuheisel coached in his tenure as Donahue's assistant. Carragher, though, was subdued, concentrating on throwing to his receivers.

Those roles were switched, though, a moment after Griffith nailed the game-winning field goal. Smiling widely, Carragher jumped up and down, sprinting at a subdued Neuheisel and shaking his hand.

"I told them we've come too far to let this ruin our season," Neuheisel said. "And I told the guys that I have three Rose Bowl rings, and each time we lost our next-to-the-last game."

Toledo acted as if he had just won a New Year's Day game in the stadium when he profusely thanked all of the Bruins boosters who had stuck by him during a dismal season. He said the gung-ho faxes, phone calls and letters have all been appreciated.

"And," Toledo said, "the bottle of wine."

That had remained corked, like UCLA's defense, until Saturday.