Pac-10 Football | Wildcats subdue Bruins
Published 11:44 pm Saturday, September 20, 2008
PASADENA, Calif. — Arizona coach Mike Stoops needed the win more than UCLA’s Rick Neuheusel did. He got it.
Longtime UCLA nemesis Willie Tuitama threw for 222 yards and connected with tight end Ron Gronkowski for a pair of touchdowns Saturday in Arizona’s 31-10 victory in the Pac-10 opener for both teams.
The Wildcats (3-1) bounced back from a 36-28 upset by New Mexico that had led to fresh speculation about Stoops’ job security in Tucson. Although the Bruins (1-2) were coming off a 59-0 loss to BYU that was their worst defeat in 79 years, Neuheisel is still in the honeymoon stage at UCLA, where he’s in the first year of a five-year contract.
Stoops liked the way the Wildcats responded against UCLA after losing the previous week.
“We controlled the game pretty much for four quarters. Our pressure was succeeding all day,” he said. “We are a little sporadic right now and we got off to a slow start. I’m glad to see our guys overcome that.”
Ronnie Palmer, who had two of the Wildcats’ three sacks, said, “This year, we are staying hungry. Last year, we would all have been arguing after a loss like last week. Not now.”
Neuheisel was subdued after the game, saying, “I want to thank the fans for sticking around. It’s tough to watch. The kids appreciated it.”
Arizona broke the game open with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. Tuitama’s second scoring pass to Gronkowski gave them a 24-10 pad early in the period, then Xavier Smith added an 8-yard touchdown run with 6:48 remaining.
“We knew we could come out in the second half and do real well,” Tuitama said. “We just came out in the second half and got it.”
The Bruins’ defense provided their lone touchdown on a 1-yard fumble return by Korey Bosworth in the first quarter.
The Wildcats’ defense, meanwhile, held the Bruins to 196 total yards. Arizona’s offense had 333.
Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft, the third-stringer pressed into duty by injuries, went 15-of-31 for just 81 yards in what was his third UCLA start.
“Obviously I’m disappointed with some of the decisions he made,” UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “He needs to take responsibility, he’s the leader. But the 10 other guys need to take some responsibility, too.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had these two games where we couldn’t generate offense.”
Neuheisel complimented the Bruins’ defense, but added, “There has been no consistency on offense for the last two games. There is no quick fix solution. We need to be focused, we need to get involved and have individual improvement.”
Elsewhere
Stanford 23, San Jose St. 10: At Stanford, Calif., Tavita Pritchard passed for 159 yards and rushed for a TD while rallying the Cardinal (2-2) from a 10-0 deficit to beat the Spartans (2-2) in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game on Saturday night.
