Special teams, defense step up to Roques Huskies

Monday, December 14, 1998

WASHINGTON: Bruins use field goals, kickoff return to clinch Rose Bowl berth

By Jeff Kmiotek

Daily Bruin Staff

It was a Roques and Bowl afternoon for UCLA that Saturday.

The No. 3 Bruins (9-0, 7-0 Pac-10) clinched the Pac-10 championship and earned at least a berth in the 1999 Rose Bowl by rocking Washington (5-5, 3-4) 36-24 at Husky Stadium.

Rocking, as in UCLA defensive back Ryan Roques.

The tailback-turned-cornerback returned a kickoff 81 yards in the first quarter, and later scored on a 77-yard punt return to give UCLA a 20-10 lead and a mountain of momentum going into halftime.

With under a minute remaining in the first half and the Bruins clinging to a 13-10 lead, Roques took a punt at the UCLA 23-yard line and took off.

He escaped a couple tackles, juked a couple defenders and turned on the afterburners as flailing arms trailed him to the end zone.

"That was insane," said receiver Brian Poli-Dixon.

"It was unbelievable effort and desire. If every guy plays as hard as he did on that play, we won't have any trouble winning," said quarterback Cade McNown.

And thanks to that play, as well as the exceptional performance of kicker Chris Sailer, the offensive line and the entire defensive unit, UCLA didn't have much trouble winning.

"I'm very pleased with our football team. I'm really excited to win the Pac-10 championship and we're excited to represent UCLA in the Rose Bowl," said Bob Toledo.

The night prior to the game, UCLA's video coordinator prepared a tape that showed highlights of UCLA's first eight games.

"My big emphasis for this game was that if you want to get on the highlight film when the season is over, you've got to make some big plays," said Toledo.

The Bruins took Toledo's challenge to heart and responded quickly. UCLA won the coin-toss, elected to receive and put together an almost flawless touchdown drive.

"It's kind of fun to get seven points on the board early in the game," said McNown. "We were already in front of the eight-ball."

But the Huskies grabbed the cue stick, and on their first offensive play, quarterback Brock Huard hit receiver Andre DeSaussure with a 53-yard completion. It seemed ominous that Huard would keep exploiting UCLA's struggling secondary, but that play proved to be a fluke. The Bruin cornerbacks stepped up and allowed just one more pass over 20 yards.

"Defensively, we rose to the occasion," said Toledo. "We simplified it a bit and tried to change it up more by putting in more zones.

For the Bruins, simple was better. And while Huard was kept in check, McNown had yet another quality performance. He was given a big assist from the offensive line, which didn't allow a sack to a Washington defense that led the nation with 48 sacks (5.3 per game).

But although the offense was solid - in possibly their most balanced game of the season - they were plagued by missed opportunities in the red zone.

But fortunately for the Bruins, when the offense failed to punch it into the end zone, Sailer kicked it through the goal posts.

Sailer nailed a career-high five field goals, including a season-long 47-yarder.

"Nobody can take the Rose Bowl away from us," said Toledo. "But obviously, there is more football to be played."

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