THE LACK-OF-JACK BLACK-SACK-ATTACK GETS THE BRUINS BACK ON TRACK IN THE PAC

No longer out of whack, and that’s no smack, so cut them some slack — UCLA snaps out of their funk to destroy the Cal Foldin’ Bears 40-24, as the Bruins notch 5 Sacks, Josh Rosen throws a UCLA Record 34 completions for 399 yards and 3 TD’s, and Ka’imi Fairbairn hits a UCLA Record 60-yard Field Goal!

There are a lot of reasons to celebrate tonight, after the UCLA Football Team re-established itself as a quality squad, with a decisive 40-24 victory over 20th-ranked California:  The Defense, who has had trouble pressuring opposing QB’s, got 5 Sacks; True Freshman Quarterback Josh Rosen broke the All-Time UCLA Record for completions with 34; Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, who used to be inept from over 40 yards, hit an all-time UCLA record 60-yard Field Goal, with 5 yards to spare (The old record was 56, by Chris Sailer in 1997); and, the victory snaps a 2-game losing streak, preserving Jim Mora’s legacy of never losing 3 regular-season games in a row as the Bruin Head Coach… but…

There are also a couple of big reason to temper your celebration:  Stud Starting Running Back Paul Perkins left the game with an injury, as did Myles Jack’s replacement at Linebacker Isaako Savaiinaea, who was actually CARTED off the field.  The last two GOOD teams UCLA has faced EXPOSED the decimated Bruin Defense, and now, losing Savaiinaea will make it that much tougher to compete with the better teams.  And losing a Heisman-calber Running Back of course cannot be underestimated.  The Bruins had three good back-ups, but 2nd-stringer Nate Starks missed this game with an injury, so that left Freshmen Soso Jamabo and Bolu Olorunfunmi.  Bolu might have gotten dinged as well, but Soso gained 79 yards while carrying the load.

Luckily, the Bear Defense was not impressive.  The Bruins controlled the line of scrimmage, and Rosen was continuously able to find open Receivers.  Twice he hit Devin Fuller for TD’s, and 10 times he hit Thomas Duarte, who gained 141 yards and scored a TD as well.

Cal drove down the field on the game’s first possession, but stalled and kicked a Field Goal to go up 3-0.  The Bruins quickly countered with a tying Field Goal, then jumped ahead 23-3.  Cal got a late 2nd quarter TD to cut it to 23-10, but then the aggressive Bruins drove in the final minute before halftime, leading to Fairbairn’s miracle kick at the gun.

The Bruins were the first to score in the 3rd, making it 33-10, and the rout was on.  Cal won garbage time 14-7, making the final score 40-24, but the outcome was never in doubt in the second half… and the Bears PLAYED LIKE IT.  It was a three-possession game in the 4th quarter, but the Bears Offense just took its time, methodically, and stupidly driving down the field in small, slow chunks.  By the time they cut it to 16, they had virtually no time left to continue their comeback.  It was as if their Coach had thrown in the towel awfully early.  They also failed to call a time out when they could have gotten the ball back, and when they finally did, they didn’t seem to try to score.  It was a mystery, why the Golden Bears were foldin’ so early.

Ok… So with the game being on a Thursday night, and the students being in Midterms, the Cheerleaders did NOT do a pregame rally performance, and most of the girls did not arrive for any pregame festivities.  I still got a ton of great photos (if I do say so myself), but they are heavily skewed towards the girls who came early.  Usually I try to balance things and spread the joy somewhat evenly, but today that is impossible.  So I apologize to anyone who is not featured in today’s collection of photos.  Anyway, here are EIGHTY-NINE photos from the game, and from the halftime Cirque du Soleil show, and of some of the UCLA Spirit Squad, who were dressed in Black, like the team, for the Black-out event.  I will have more photos soon — probably during the weekend.