COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Junior offensive tackle Bryce Bohlander and the team hope to salvage the season by defeating Arizona State this weekend.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
A tumultuous regular season comes to an end this Saturday when the UCLA Bruins take on the Arizona State Sun Devils at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Both teams are mired in four-game losing streaks and are looking to close the season on a positive note, in this, a game postponed due to the Sept. 11 tragedy.
For the Bruins (6-4, 3-4 Pac-10), Saturday’s game will conclude a year in which they saw legitimate national championship dreams crumble into Humanitarian Bowl hopes.
UCLA won its first six games of the season, but probably needs to win to be invited to a bowl game.
Arizona State is playing for pride. The Sun Devils (4-5, 1-5) cannot reach the six-win mark necessary to qualify for postseason play.
UCLA will be starting the game without Cory Paus at quarterback, the first time someone other than Paus has taken the first snap since early last year. Paus was demoted to third string earlier this week after off-the-field troubles.
However, flanker Tab Perry returns to the lineup for the first time since the Washington State game. On top of the loss at Pullman, the Bruins have lost all three games in which Perry did not appear.
“I can’t wait to get back out there,” Perry said. “This gives us a good opportunity to finish up strong.”
The Sun Devils are coming off a loss to cross-state rival Arizona. Their last win came on Oct. 20 against Oregon State, when the Devils put up 41 points in Tempe.
“They have a pretty good offense,” UCLA senior linebacker Ryan Nece said. “We have to stop the run because that really opens up their game.”
ASU’s leading rusher is senior Delvon Flowers, who comes into the game with 1,030 yards on the season. He has scored ten touchdowns and averages nearly six yards per carry.
The Bruins defense allows an average of just 3.1 yards per carry.
Most of the focus will be on the offense, however, which was held scoreless two weeks ago by USC. It was the first time in two years the Bruins have been shut out.
“This is all we have left to play for,” offensive tackle Mike Saffer said. “It’s a one-game season for us.”
UCLA leads the all-time series against ASU 11-6-1. The Sun Devils, however, have been successful at the Rose Bowl, beating the Bruins four out of eight times.
Last year the Bruins needed a 28-point comeback to defeat the Sun Devils 38-31.
The Sun Devils should not be able to surprise the Bruins defense this year. UCLA defensive coordinator Phil Snow spent nine years at ASU before crossing the border to California.
ASU has two players besides Flowers to keep an eye on. Senior offensive tackle Levi Jones was recently named a second-team all-American, and sophomore defensive end Terrell Suggs was named to the third team.
Saturday’s game will be bittersweet as 23 seniors on the squad make their final appearance at the Rose Bowl, including linebacker Robert Thomas, who was named a first-team All-American earlier this week. UCLA will honor the seniors by announcing their names prior to the game.
Though 2001 will undoubtedly go down as a disappointing season for the seniors and the rest of the squad, the team feels it can salvage some pride with a victory of the Sun Devils.
“It’s hard to believe this is my last game at the Rose Bowl,” Nece said. “Hopefully a win will stop some of the bleeding.”
The Bruins can also salvage a postseason game, and while it will not be rose scented, most on the team argue that it is better than nothing.