LAS VEGAS — This year, with this team, could it have ended any differently?
After driving from their own 2-yard line to the Brigham Young 11 in less than two minutes, with a non-scholarship walk-on quarterback in McLeod Bethel Thompson, and an offense that has struggled to execute its plays all season, UCLA just couldn’t close it out.
The Bruins were right there, seconds away. But a game-winning field goal attempt by Kai Forbath with three ticks remaining was blocked by Eathyn Manumaleuna and Brett Denney. The Bruins fell, 17-16, to the Cougars in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium.
The snap was good, the hold was spot on. The kick appeared to be low, but Forbath, who has made 20 out of his last 21 field-goal attempts, said he hit it well.
“I hit it great. I thought it was going in,” he said. “I had no idea they had that penetration and a chance of blocking it. It felt perfect. Everything went well all day … I don’t know.”
Even in an adult fantasyland the Bruins went home heart-broken, walking slowly off the field and into a news conference and locker room where players stumped for interim coach DeWayne Walker to be hired as the Bruins’ next head coach.
Sitting at a small table, flanked by safety Chris Horton and running back Chris Markey with athletic director standing quietly in the back, Walker sat quietly as it started.
“He knows how to get the best out of his players,” Horton said.
“Hire Coach Walker … for real,” Markey said.
“I paid these guys a lot of money to say that,” Walker joked.
“He gets the best out of us … I don’t know, just being around him, how he coaches … I can’t find the words,” Markey continued. “I have a lot of emotions flowing right now. Coach Walker is a great coach and that sums it up. That really does sum it up.”
There was no denying the Bruins played with a verve that was missing at times this season, particularly an offense that has been hamstrung by injuries to quarterbacks Ben Olson and Patrick Cowan and its own inability to execute.
With Bethel-Thomspon taking over for starter Osaar Rasshan, the Bruins did not exactly sear the turf, but they were efficient enough. They had more first downs (18 to 17) than Brigham Young, more rushing yards (162 to 34) and more total yards (316 to 265).
In the locker room after the game, flanker Brandon Breazell went up and gave the Bruins’ defensive coordinator a hug and told him one thing: You deserve the job.
“He got everything he could out of this team, out of this offense,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “Just look at how much this offense has changed in two short weeks … in just two weeks.
“It’s amazing. He’s just an amazing man, an amazing coach and you know what, if he said, ‘Boys, we have to go down to hell and play a game with the devil,’ I’m saying, ‘Coach, I’m with you all the way.’ It would be a shame if they didn’t give him this head coaching job. It would be an absolute shame. He can take this program back to where it’s supposed to be and there’s no doubt in my mind that if they give him the job that he will.”
Before the game, Walker was told that he would get a second interview for the job and a chance to meet with Chancellor Gene Block, who was on the sidelines at the end.
“It’s flattering. It just reinforces the things that we talk about as a staff – that it works, and players know … players know,” Walker said.
“It was a great experience for me and these players. They bought in to what I tried to bring to the table. We had a lot of closed door meetings and a lot of lessons.
“Not only the players but the coaches bought into it, because they backed me. I just feel that we had the right chemistry these past two weeks.”
The only thing that could have made it better was a better ending to the game.
Markey, who became the first back to rush for more than 100 yards against the Cougars this season (he had 117 yards on 27 plays), started the drive with a 9-yard run and later had a 12-yard burst on a 3rd-and-2 with 1:13 to play. The Bruins pushed to the BYU 49 with 35 seconds remaining, when Bethel-Thompson hit tight end Logan Paulsen for a gain of 36 on third and 9.
With 21 seconds to go Chane Moline took the ball to his left for two yards, setting the ball and Forbath up in the middle of the field. The Bruins let the clock run and then called a timeout with three seconds remaining, and were poised to celebrate.
“I just wish we could have sent the seniors out with a victory,” Walker said.
Contact the writer: rkuwada@ocregister.com
