MERRY STEALER MOORE

Rahim Moore’s School Record-tying 3 Interceptions (“Oh, ROB!!”) help Grant Bruins 30 straight points to snow in San Diego St, 33-14, and leave UCLA fans thinking they’re gonna make it after all

Good night and Good news:  The Bruins are back, sort of, and even Chuckles the Clown can see the improvement.  UCLA overcame a sluggish start, some Freshman mistakes, and some sloppy, penalty-marred execution to put away the San Diego State Aztecs on Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl, 33-14.  The Bruins came out firing, with Freshman QB Kevin Prince throwing on every down, and looking very impressive.  He hit several different targets, with Terrence Austin and Taylor Embree being his favorites.

But with the Aztecs’ solid opening drive and their  78-yard bomb for a TD, SD St. took a 14-3 lead.   Then the Bruin Defense settled down, and pitched a shut-out the rest of the way.  Brian Price came back from an injury to anchor the team, and big hits by Kyle Bosworth and Reggie Carter rattled the Aztecs.  With Jerzy Sierwierski and others applying pressure to the QB, the Bruin Secondary was usually in good position to make the play.  Rahim Moore was the biggest beneficiary, snagging THREE Picks, which ties him for the all-time Bruin Record.  Not even Kenny Easley or Alterraun Verner ever got FOUR in one game… yet.  But Verner did do something else on Saturday night, that clinched the victory.  With the Bruins up by 12, SD St. was kicking a Field Goal, but it was blocked by Jerzy, and recovered by Verner, who returned it for a Touchdown.  The 19-point spread was exactly ON the Vegas Pointspread Line, by the way.

The Bruins were able to control the majority of the game by running effectively.  All three Tailbacks showed excellent potential and good results.  Jonathan  Franklin, Derrick Coleman, and finally Milton Knox all proved that they can find daylight… against a really bad team.  And that also means that the Offensive Line is better than last year, because the Running Backs could never find any holes to run through.

Prince was the biggest question mark coming in, but he showed why Kevin Craft isn’t starting, in the first few minutes.  However, despite the crisp completions downfield, there were also several fumbles, mishandled snaps, and two nearly-identical and really bad Interceptions, where Prince just didn’t see a Defender who was standing RIGHT THERE for the Pick.  But even with these Freshman mistakes, he still seemed to prove the Coaches right in giving the kid the nod.  Even Richard Brehaut got a moment to impress, which he did, with a long completion late in the game.  Looks like he is not Redshirting.  Damien Thigpen also played a little, so it looks like the staff wants to win NOW.

Here are 14 more pics from the game and rally, with LOTS more coming very, very soon.  Click on these to enlarge them, and roll over them to see the captions.