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Cornerback Matt Clark undercuts a Cardinal receiver during UCLA’s 21-0 shutout of Stanford

It was a sight Bruin fans could get used to.

Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards dropping back in the pocket, looking left, looking right, looking middle, and finding nothing. No open receivers, no options other than to tuck the ball and run with it.

It happened time and time again Saturday in the Bruins’ 21-0 victory over the Cardinal, and the credit for that goes to UCLA’s secondary.

“We dominated,” senior free safety Ben Emanuel said. “We can say that we dominated because they scored zero points.”

With the tremendous play of the Bruin secondary, namely cornerbacks Matt Clark and Trey Brown and safeties Jarrad Page and Emanuel, UCLA recorded its first Pac-10 shutout since 1987. One week after getting torched by Arizona State quarterback Andrew Walter for 415 yards and six touchdowns, the Bruin secondary looked like a completely different unit, a unit capable of stopping anyone.

“We just made mistakes in the past,” said Page, who finished with an interception and seven tackles. “Today we didn’t make those mistakes.”

“This is the best game we’ve played in terms of discipline. We just wanted it. We wanted it in our hearts.”

Because of its tremendous defensive execution, UCLA held pass-happy Stanford to only 224 yards passing on 46 attempts, with 71 of those yards coming on a completion to tight end Alex Smith late in the fourth quarter.

Edwards was clearly frustrated, as the Bruins did a great job disguising coverages and making it very difficult for the Stanford signal caller to get anything going. Edwards told Page after the game that he had no idea what to expect on each play, as the Bruins also forced him into three costly interceptions.

“I can’t even describe it,” Clark said. “Defensively, we finally showed everyone what we can do.”

“The defensive line got a lot of pressure on the quarterback and forced him to throw some balls up there and the secondary was in position to make plays all day.”

Clark was perhaps the most impressive performer on the entire Bruin defense, consistently batting down balls and surrendering nothing in his coverage. Though some thought 6-foot-7 Stanford receiver Evan Moore would present a match-up problem for the 5-foot-9 Clark, the Bruin corner was never too worried about it.

And why worry? Moore was held to only two receptions for eight yards on Saturday, when he had been averaging 63 receiving yards per contest.

“Everybody makes a big deal about (his height),” Clark said. “He’s a talented receiver, I’m not taking anything away from him or anything, but it didn’t bother us at all when we were preparing for him. We went in with the mind-set that this was another receiver – lock him up and play hard.”

After the game, everyone was singing the praises of the Bruin defense and the secondary in particular.

“I know our coverage in the secondary was superior, and Matt Clark stood out to me,” said defensive coordinator Larry Kerr, who coached from the booth instead of the sideline Saturday.

UCLA shut down every facet of the Stanford offense, making Edwards’ Saturday an exercise in futility. Though the Cardinal was averaging 26.6 points per game coming into Saturday, something about the Bruins’ defensive game plan changed all that.

Coach Karl Dorrell said after the game that his team played some two-deep coverages, with the safeties lending help to the corners. He said the corners were settling at a depth where they were comfortable not to get beat. And because they matched up well in terms of quickness with the Stanford receivers, they were able to make some good plays on the ball.

“Our defense really came out to play at the perfect time,” Dorrell said. “We got a shutout against a very good offense, stopped the running game, did great things in pass coverage and got some interceptions.”

Even the one question mark in the secondary turned into a definitive exclamation point Saturday.

Brown, a redshirt freshman, played well in his first college start, finishing with eight tackles and one pass break-up.

“He played solid,” Dorrell said. “He played like he had some experience.”

And the guys with the actual experience showed up in a big way. Page anchored the defense in the back, Clark blanketed receivers all day, and Emanuel, who finished with one great interception and had another negated by a penalty, was always active around the ball.

“The secondary played a whale of a game,” junior linebacker Justin London said. “That gave the D-line a chance to go after the quarterback.”

Because UCLA had real success stopping the run Saturday, the secondary was finally able to prove what it is capable of, the Arizona State game notwithstanding.

“This is the best game we’ve played,” Page said. “We didn’t give up anything. It wasn’t there.”

Just ask Edwards.