| | | |
Friday, December 13, 2002
No. 6 Washington 35, UCLA 28
Associated Press
SEATTLE -- Freshman Rich Alexis ran for 127 yards on 21 carries and No. 6 Washington rallied in the third quarter to beat UCLA 35-28 on Saturday for its sixth straight Pac-10 victory.
The Huskies (9-1, 6-1) beat the Bruins (6-4, 3-4) for the first time in four seasons. UCLA's victory in Los Angeles last season cost Washington a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Trailing 21-14 at halftime, the Huskies dominated the third quarter as Alexis returned after spraining his left shoulder. Alexis had 75 yards on seven carries in the first quarter.
This time the Huskies didn't wait until the fourth quarter to score a touchdown to win. Fullback Pat Conniff scored on two short runs and Tuiasosopo passed 2 yards to Todd Elstrom for a score as Washington took a 35-21 lead in the third period.
The Huskies had to come from behind in the final period to win against California, Stanford and Arizona the past three weeks.
But the fourth quarter proved interesting anyway.
UCLA's Cory Paus passed 7 yards to Brian Poli-Dixon for a touchdown with 1:57 left to cut Washington's lead to a touchdown.
Washington's Anthony Kelley recovered the Bruins' onside kick attempt, but the Bruins got the ball back with 27 seconds on their own 36 when Washington failed to make a first down. On the next play, Kelly sacked Paus and then recovered a fumble.
Conniff's first score on a 4-yard run was set up by Willie Hurst's 62-run on the first play of the second half. Hurst, who had 99 yards on 11 carries, broke his right collarbone on the play.
Conniff's second TD on a 5-yard run came after Tuiasosopo and tight end Jerramy Stevens teamed on a 47-yard completion.
Conniff's second TD came after coach Rick Neuheisel took a 27-yard field goal by John Anderson off the board. UCLA was called for offsides on the play, giving the Huskies first down at the UCLA 5.
Washington scored touchdowns the first two times it had the ball in the opening quarter on drives of 80 and 79 yards. But the Huskies lost Alexis with his shoulder injury on the second march for the rest of the first half and their offense bogged down after that.
Tuiasosopo passed 13 yards to Stevens for a touchdown, and Hurst ran 3 yards for a score to give the Huskies a 14-0 lead.
A 48-yard pass from Paus to Poli-Dixon set up UCLA's first touchdown, a 5-yard pass from Paus to Ed Ieremia-Stansbury with 1:46 left in the first quarter.
The Bruins went ahead 21-14 at halftime with two touchdown runs by DeShaun Foster in the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first half. UCLA's go-ahead TD, a 1-yard run by Foster with 43 seconds on the clock in the first half, was set up by a 48-yard pass from Paus to Poli-Dixon to the Washington 5.
UCLA missed out on a TD in the second quarter when free safety Greg Carothers of Washington intercepted a short pass by Paus in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter.
| | | |
|
|
A key block by Ed Ieremia-Stansbury gives Deshaun Foster a 12-yard touchdown run. (Courtesy:ABC Sports)
Marques Tuiasosopo final home game was extremely emotional for the entire team. (Courtesy:ABC Sports)