By Rob Miech
CBS SportsLine Staff Writer
Oct. 17, 1998
PASADENA, Calif. -- There is a lot of room for improvement on defense for the nation's second-ranked team.
Still, UCLA first-year defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti smiled widely after the Bruins' defense registered many impact plays in a 41-38 overtime victory over No.11 Oregon.
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"We had three more points than they had," Aliotti said. "We'll be a good defense in the future. We're not a good defense right now, but we will be."
On Saturday, the Bruins were superb. They treated the outing as if it were just another "sudden-change" situation, in which coach Bob Toledo implores them to forget about everything bad that has happened and focus on executing a plan.
IN PARTICULAR, OUTSIDE LINEBACKER Brendon Ayanbadejo, a rare senior defender, made a stand. Instead of swarming the quarterback, Aliotti had his linemen and outside backers rush up the field in specific areas, hoping Oregon quarterback Akili Smith would end up being in one of those lanes.
He was, two consecutive times for Ayanbadejo.
At the end of regulation, the game was tied 38-38, and UCLA won the overtime coin flip.
The Bruins elected to begin on defense and defend the north goal. And on first-and-10 from the UCLA 25-yard line, Ayanbadejo sacked Smith for a 9-yard loss.
On second-and-19 from the 34, he corralled Smith for a 3-yard loss. Smith then threw an incomplete pass on the left side, and his fourth-down prayer was tipped and nabbed at the goal line by Bruins cornerback Ryan Roques.
Ayanbadejo said it was the first time he recorded sacks on consecutive plays.
"After regulation, I just told the team to step it up. And that anyone who wasn't ready to step it up, remain on the bench," he said. "We could have folded after the missed field goal. But we're way too tough. We're way too strong."
CHRIS SAILER MISSED A TOUGH-ANGLED chip shot from the left hash mark that could have given the Bruins the victory on the last play in regulation. But instead of folding, UCLA's defense put Sailer in position to win the game in overtime with a 24- yard field goal.
"I'm just doing my job," said Roques, who has intercepted a pass in each of his last four games. "Other people do their jobs, and it falls into place. We also had a little bit of luck. Luck is a good thing."
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Despite giving up a lot of points, UCLA's defense put the squeeze on Oregon's high-powered offense when it needed to in a big 41-38 overtime victory.
(AP)
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With 75 seconds remaining in regulation, Oregon used some luck of its own. On a fourth-and-16 play at UCLA's 42, Smith completed a 19-yard pass to split end Damon Griffin. Four plays later, the Ducks tied it 38-38 on Smith's 2-yard touchdown pass to Griffin.
"If we had held them on that fourth-down play," Aliotti said, "we wouldn't have had to go through the mental gymnastics."
But the UCLA defenders scored 10s in the end, leaving the Bruins 6-0 in their last six games against ranked opponents. They went to Tucson last weekend and dispatched No. 10 Arizona, and their game Saturday against the high-scoring Ducks ended the Bruins' most difficult two-game stretch of the season.
"WE PROVED WE CAN PLAY WITH the good teams the last two weeks," Roques said. "And we can step it up for the big games. It shows that we can overcome all of the tough situations. Look at Drew Bennett jumping in there and making that play."
Before Sailer botched his field goal, Bennett, the reserve quarterback, caught a 53-yard bomb -- a play called "Max Rebound" -- from quarterback Cade McNown to get UCLA to Oregon's 3.
"Who is that Drew Bennett guy?" said UCLA reserve quarterback Cory Paus.
"I had the angle," Bennett said. "I just didn't want to drop it."
A feeling has indeed begun to creep into the Bruins' systems. A dozen guys wearing sombreros in the front row of the northeast corner of the Rose Bowl know it, too. They didn't wear shirts, and 10 of them spelled out F-I-E-S-T-A B-O-W-L on their chests; hinting the Bruins might find themselves in this season's national championship game.
"I know this is a special team," Roques said. "But it didn't take the victory today, or even last week, to make me realize that. I knew it was a special team at the start of the season, with our work ethic and winning attitude. There's a winning aura around here, and you can feel it."
Farmer has felt it since the summer.
"YOU CAN FEEL IT AND YOU CAN see it," he said. "We all like each other, and that's something that I know is rare on a football team. Usually, there's a lot of distance between guys. But not here. Not this year."
Not with an impressive double championship looming for him. Farmer has already been part of a national-championship volleyball season at UCLA, and he senses the same chemistry on the football team.
"With each win, we're getting more adrenaline," Farmer said. "We've won 15 in a row. We're gaining confidence. But we're getting hungrier, too."
Rob Miech is a sportswriter on CBS SportsLine's staff.