(Written by kencraw)

After the relatively easy win over Arizona and the Bears were 5-0, confidence was high in Berkeley. UCLA on the other hand, was also undefeated. The general consensus in Berkeley was that UCLA was untested and the stout Cal defense and potent Cal offense would show just how wanting UCLA really was. Nobody thought to think that the same was true for the Bears.

UCLA got the ball to start the game. On the 2nd play of the game, Damien Hughes broke on an out-pattern to intercept the ball. Unfortunately it went through his hands and into the receivers hands who was able to streak down the sideline into Cal territory before being pushed out of bounds. The Bears defense didn’t make any additional mistakes and UCLA was forced to punt.

Cal quickly went to work with Forsett busting a 57 yard run up a seam down into the UCLA redzone. Two plays later, Cal ran a reverse to DeSean Jackson who dove for the endzone losing the ball just as he was touching the pylon setting up an important review of the play by the replay booth. Luckily for the Bears the evidence that DeSean fumbled into the endzone, was not enough to overturn the call of the ball being down at the 1 yard-line and Forsett was able to score a touchdown on the next play, Cal up 7-0 early.

On the kickoff, UCLA fumbled the ball and Cal recovered. On the next play Ayoob kept his composure waiting for a receiver to get open, waiting far longer than is normal. He found Craig Stevens slipping across the middle for an easy and undeserved touchdown. The Bears found themselves with a commanding lead only 3 minutes into the game, 14-0.

UCLA was able to get the ball down to the Cal 43 yard-line mostly on the scrambling legs of UCLA quarterback Ben Olsen. However UCLA was forced to punt again after the pass on 3rd down fell incomplete.

Cal was forced to punt on their next possession. Maurice Jones-Drew then showed off his impressive speed when Cal’s punt coverage over-pursued and allowed Drew to the outside. By the way a couple of Cal players came into the screen it appeared there was some blocking in the back that weren’t called on the play, but nevertheless the ball was on the Cal 5 yard-line after the return. UCLA was able to put the ball in on the next play, equaling Cal’s easy points at seven and the Bears lead was cut in half, 14-7.

The Bears next drive was another ineffective one with the UCLA defense changing up formations to confuse Ayoob as well as bring sufficient pressure to disrupt most of the other plays. This time Lonie was able to angle the ball out of bounds to keep the ball out of Jones-Drew’s hands while still getting the ball deep into UCLA territory.

UCLA was able to move the ball on their next possession well mixing running and passing. The Bear defense appeared to be on their heels for the first time of the season and the good mixture of running and passing seemed to be the culprit. The drive was capped by a 12 yard touchdown run by Jones-Drew to tie the game, 14-14.

A long pass to DeSean Jackson on a crossing route on 1st down got the ball to midfield. That pass seemed to loosen up the defense as Forsett and Lynch, making his first appearance of the game, were able to gain another 30 yards on two successive plays. Lynch was then able to get another 1st down into the redzone on 2nd down after tight end Eric Beegun was unable to pull down a well thrown ball for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown. A dropped pass and a false start penalty setup a 3rd and 11 where UCLA brought the heat, forcing the field-goal, a 32 yard kick by Schneider, putting the Bears back in front, 17-14.

UCLA passed on three consecutive plays on their next drive, unable to convert any of them. They were forced to punt after the 3 and out.

The Bears played a much more balanced offense in their next possession, mixing powerful running with Lynch and spreading the ball around in the passing game including a nice out-pattern to Robert Jordan that kept his consecutive game streak alive. The Bears got into the endzone on a pass to DeSean that he was able to wrestle away from the corner, putting the Bears back up by 10, 24-14.

After UCLA went 3 and out again, the Bears went back to the run game leaning heavily on Lynch. Another fade pattern to the weak side where the receiver, this time Jordan, had to muscle the ball away from the corner, got the ball down inside the redzone to the UCLA 7 yard-line. A touchdown was called back on 3rd and goal from the 5 when Beegun started running forward before the snap, an easy to call illegal motion penalty. On their 2nd attempt on 3rd and goal, this time from the 10 yard-line, Ayoob couldn’t find the touch to hit Stevens in stride setting up another field-goal, the Bears stretching their lead to 27-14.

On the kickoff, Lonie had to save the Bears from another special-teams mistake when the returner made it through the wedge untouched. Lonie was able to keep the play respectable bringing down the runner at the UCLA 33 yard-line. After Jones-Drew busted a big run that was partially called back on a downfield hold that put the ball around midfield, UCLA continued to pound the run game. A marginal roughing the quarterback penalty got UCLA down to the Cal 10 yard-line. 3 run plays later UCLA had significantly tightened the score when Jones-Drew walked into the endzone, the score now 27-21.

Recapping the 1st half, the Bears play on offense had much to be happy about, minus their efficiency in the redzone. The last two scoring drives both turned up as field-goals that if only one of which had been a touchdown would have dramatically changed the nature of the game with a 31-14 lead. On defense, minus the occasional big play, the defense had played pretty stout. The general feeling was that Cal was in control if they could minimize the big play and continue to pound the football.

To start the 2nd half, Cal went straight to that run game and UCLA was waiting, forcing a 3rd and 8. Ayoob made a great read finding DeSean open on the outside, but he well under-threw the ball, forcing a punt. After Lonie shanked the punt, UCLA had the ball on the Cal side of the field before having ever touched the ball.

UCLA didn’t waste any time trying to strike back throwing the bomb on 1st down. Hughes managed to catch up to the slightly under-thrown ball, forcing the incompletion. After a holding penalty and good pursuit on an outside run play forced a 3rd and very long, which UCLA was not able to convert, UCLA was forced to punt back to the Bears.

After UCLA stuffed Cal on 1st and 2nd down, DeSean continued to assert himself as the 5-star recruit he was, catching a nice pass over the middle to get the 1st down. The Bears tried to make use of DeSean again on the next play, calling a reverse. Unfortunately UCLA had called a blitz off the edge that stifled the play before it could get started. After Ayoob was unable to get the ball to Forsett on what would have been a big gainer of a screen play and a false start, the Bears were stuck trying to convert a 3rd and 20. Without a good downfield option, Ayoob was forced to go with a shorter pass that was not nearly long enough, resulting in a punt.

Yet again the special teams for Cal let their teammates down, over-pursuing again, this time leaving a seam up the middle for Jones-Drew to explode through for another easy touchdown. Fully half of UCLA’s 28 points had now come on the backs of the punt return game. Beyond the concern for later in the game, it also put the Bears in their first deficit of the game, down 27-28.

Forsett quickly gave the Bears back some momentum with a great run down the sideline on a fake reverse to DeSean that took the Bears from their own 35 to the UCLA 18 yard-line. A defensive holding penalty gave the Bears 1st and goal from the 9 yard-line. However, UCLA was able to hold again, forcing yet another field-goal, putting the Bears back on top, albeit by a slim margin, 30-28.

UCLA was forced to punt on their next possession, going 3 and out. Forsett yet again busted a big run, this time getting down to the UCLA 23. Unlike the previous drive, Cal was able to get the ball into the endzone with an 11 yard run by Lynch, putting the Bears back up by 9 with just over a quarter left to play, 37-28.

UCLA let a couple penalties and some bad rush plays back them up to their own 2 yard-line. That forced a very weak punt giving the Bears the ball back on the UCLA 38 yard-line. An 18 yard pass to DeSean got the ball down to just outside the redzone. The drive stalled there and Schneider kicked his fourth field-goal of the game, putting the Bears up what seemed to be pretty comfortably, 40-28.

After the Bears forced what should have been another 3 and out, UCLA managed to run a fake punt that took the ball all the way down into the Cal redzone, turning what seemed to be a near fatal dagger into the Bruins with nine minutes remaining into a fresh opportunity for UCLA to get back into the game. After a personal foul on the Bears gave UCLA a 1st and goal, two runs by Jones-Drew setup a 3rd and goal from the 1. Olsen ran it in to close the score to 40-35.

The Bears went back to the run game on the ensuing drive. Lynch busted a big run that was called back by a marginal holding penalty. After a good scramble by Ayoob on 2nd down setup a 3rd and 2, UCLA was able to prevent Lynch from spinning out of a stuffed up line holding him 2 chain-links short of a 1st down. Tedford uncharacteristically went for it on 4th down on the Cal side of midfield, with Ayoob running the QB sneak for the 1st down. However, with Cal emphasizing the run, UCLA was able to force the punt on the next set of downs.

UCLA got the ball back with 2:30 left on the clock at the UCLA 25 yard-line. For the first time all game, UCLA was able to complete a pass deep down the field, getting the ball inside the Cal 40. Maurice Jones-Drew then made the definitive play of the game, using his speed to get outside on a passing play out of the backfield and run it into the endzone giving UCLA back the lead. After the 2-point conversion failed, UCLA held a 1 point lead, Cal down 40-41.

The silver lining was that there was 1:35 left on the clock and the Bears only needed a field-goal to win. After an offensive pass-interference call put the Bears in a 1st and 20 hole, Ayoob threw his one big mistake of the game both making a bad read and under-throwing the ball, giving UCLA an easy interception, sealing the game.

UCLA would go on to score one more touchdown on the final play of the game while running out the clock, for the final score of 40-48.

Summing up the game, Cal thoroughly out-played the Bruins on all but a handful of plays. 550 yards of offense was only able to produce 40 points for the Bears because of their ineffectiveness in the redzone. At the same time, the Bruins scored two less times than the Bears but were setup by the return game and Maurice Jones-Drew. All in all, this was a wasted opportunity for the Bears. The better and more talented team had lost because of a handful of mistakes and poor execution in the redzone. The score shoud have been somewhere in the 48-31 range, instead those execution problems, particularly on special-teams and particularly at those moments that the Bears seemed poised to seal the deal, doomed the Bears. Also of great frustration to Bear fans was the interception Ayoob threw to end the game. After 3 years of quarterbacks who played great football in clutch moments, Ayoob had shown both in his first jittery games and now in his first clutch opportunity, that he may not have the ‘stuff’ that great quarterbacks are made of.

Would the Bears rebound against Oregon State at home? Would the special team mistakes and Ayoob’s jitters just be a lost opportunity or would they doom the team to a disasterous fall? Find out on Saturday.