No Moral (Victory) to Same Old Story

Great, so now he decides to give the ball to Skip Hicks.

OK, OK, it’s too easy to blame UCLA Coach Bob Toledo for the Bruins’ second consecutive last-minute failure Saturday.

Admittedly, the fact he ordered Hicks to carry the ball on third down with 53 seconds left and no timeouts on the Tennessee 20-yard line . . . needlessly running the clock when the run failed . . . forcing a rushed fourth-down incomplete pass that ended the Bruins hopes . . . that was just one awful moment in time.

But from the groan that rocked the sun-baked Rose Bowl as Tennessee trudged off with a fortunate 30-24 victory, there’s a whole bunch of UCLA fans wanting to blame somebody.

Maybe Bruin quarterback Cade McNown for not seeing Danny Farmer short when he overthrew Eric Scott by the goal line on the game’s final play?

Maybe Hicks for losing a fumble on the previous potential game-winning drive?

Maybe the officials for incorrectly ruling that UCLA’s first-quarter fumble recovery for a touchdown was not a fumble?

Whatever, what would have been a time of celebration at dozens of other schools Saturday was a time of despair for the Bruins, who did not establish their worldwide athletic reputation by just coming close.

On a day when they turned a potential 45-point blowout into a six-point loss, displaying more heart in one blue jersey than in the entire Tennessee team, all many could think of was two words:

Why not?

Why are they not winning these games they can win?

It happened last week during a three-point loss at Washington State, when most agreed Toledo should have given an exhausted Hicks a chance to run the ball with the game on the line in the final minutes, and did not.

It happened again Saturday, when the Bruins fell behind by 24 points, then bravely outscored the Volunteers by 18.

It happened when, trailing by six, the Bruins had two possessions in Tennessee territory in the final five minutes, yet could not find the end zone.

If this is Akron, they are partying until Tuesday.

For UCLA to do the same would be to deny its pedigree.

The moral of the story is, Westwood types are growing weary of moral victories.

“Eventually, we’ve got to win these kind of games,” said Toledo, a good guy and fine school ambassador who is 5-8 as UCLA’s coach. “We get tired of the stuff about great effort, and playing hard.

“You’ve got to win these kinds of games to gain national respect.”

Hicks described Saturday’s loss another way.

“This hurts worse than getting blown out,” he said.

If the game goes another quarter, it is the mighty third-ranked Vols who get blown out.

Manning Schmanning. That Heisman Trophy lock named Peyton was brilliant in the first half, but seven for 21 for 100 yards in the second half.

If he is indeed ready this minute for the NFL, then he had better hope the NFL does not consistently send linebackers at his head.

Rocky Long’s defensive scheme didn’t work well early, but eventually wore down Manning’s body and mind.

“If you get in his face, you can get him out of his game,” linebacker Brian Willmer said.

With the likes of Kenyon Coleman and Jayson Brown, Willmer spent most of the second half chasing Manning through the smog. He’s not big--6 feet 2, 230 pounds--but like other unheralded Bruins defenders, he played huge.

And that great Tennessee defense led by the great linebacker Leonard Little?

He was able to run downfield and knock the ball from Hicks in the final three minutes, but he spent most of the second half being swallowed whole by tackle Chad Overhauser.

“We didn’t play good enough to beat a high school team,” Little said.

For the Bruins, in the end, it was all there; the athleticism of Hicks, the daring of McNown, the stamina of the defense.

And then it wasn’t.

Where do you look?

How about the beginning?

For the second consecutive week, the Bruins started as if Toledo had issued the following pregame speech:

“OK, fellas, now go out there and stink it up.”

A trick play that didn’t work when Jim McElroy couldn’t throw the ball back to McNown.

McNown running into a safety, then throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown.

McElroy stepping out of bounds before catching a 54-yard pass, nullifying the catch.

Dumb penalties, dumb stuff, all in the first half, putting the Bruins in what proved to be an impossibly deep hole.

Again.

So why can’t they get a better start?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Willmer said.

Over the last four years the Bruins are 17-19. They have not won the Rose Bowl game in 11 years. They have won one of their last seven games against ranked teams.

And now, 0-2, no matter how you measure it.

“Nobody is going to say you are 2-0 by six inches,” Hicks said. “They don’t say that.”