Play Almost Brought Bruins to Their Knees

It’s a good thing for Karl Dorrell that UCLA held on to defeat Washington on Saturday because if the Bruins had lost, their coach would have had a busy bye week dealing with questions about his team’s final offensive play.

After eating up the clock with a time-consuming drive that began with 6:02 remaining in the fourth quarter, UCLA found itself with fourth down and inches at the Huskies’ 38 and 40 seconds remaining.

Instead of turning to Maurice Drew, who set a school record with 322 yards rushing in the game, or Manuel White, who added 89 yards, UCLA tried to bamboozle the Huskies with quick and offbeat signal-calling by quarterback Drew Olson in an attempt to draw the defense offside.

“We hadn’t changed the cadence all game because of the crowd noise,” said offensive coordinator Tom Cable, who admitted that he thought about going with a quarterback sneak. “[Olson] did it right and [center] Mike [McCloskey] snapped the ball” when a defender jumped.

“I’ve done it eight or nine times over the last two seasons and never has it not worked,” McCloskey said. “I snapped the ball when the guy was in the neutral zone.”

At least that’s how the Bruins saw it. But the officials saw it differently and did not call a penalty, and the Bruins turned the ball over on downs when Olson took a knee for a two-yard loss.

“It worked almost perfectly except the refs didn’t catch it,” Dorrell said. “We will learn from this; maybe next time we will punt.”

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Washington’s final drive, which reached the two-yard line before time expired, would have ended earlier if safety Ben Emanuel II had been able to intercept a pass that sailed through his hands with 16 seconds remaining.

“It wasn’t a big deal to me because I knew we were going to stop them,” Emanuel said. “I made a break on the ball and it carried a little bit on me.”

Dorrell was glad to see Emanuel bounce back by getting in on the tackle that kept Washington’s Charles Frederick short of the end zone on the last play.

“I almost was at the goal-line myself,” Dorrell said.

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Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy on the record rushing game by Drew, who matched a Pacific 10 Conference record with five touchdowns: “Every game we have a goal to rush for X amount of yards and never in my wildest dreams would I think one guy could have a day like this. A combination of two or three backs, yes, but not one. The little guy made some great runs but you have to give credit where credit is due.... No. 32 [fullback] Mike Pitre probably was the unsung hero with how he led the way.”

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Former walk-on Benjamin Lorier was an unsung hero Saturday when he played most of the second half after injuries to linebackers Justin London and Aaron Whittington. Lorier, a senior and a key player on UCLA’s special teams, finished with two tackles.

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Injury update: Wide receiver Craig Bragg suffered a dislocated left shoulder Saturday and will have tests done today. Bragg said he expected to be sidelined at least two weeks. Because of injuries suffered against Washington, UCLA may also be without defensive lineman Kenneth Lombard (right shoulder), safety Dennis Keyes (right arm), Whittington (left hip) and London (ankle)