Brehaut’s Bruins Pull Out A Heart-stopping Win Despite Chow’s Conservatism

Well what can we say. When we started the game day we linked to a story from Jon Gold comparing today's matchup against Oregon State with the game we had against Washington last year at the Rose Bowl (following a gloomy October and a heart breaking loss). The result was yet another dramatic and heart-stopping win for the Bruins at the Rose Bowl. Bruins eke out a last second win thanks to a game ending FG from Kai Forbath. The final score was 17-14. Here is the box score.

Perhaps Forbath is arguably the player of the game. However, the guy who was the STAR OF THE NIGHT was none other than UCLA QB Richard Brehaut, who has been maligned and bad mouthed by our offensive coordinator all throughout his young career at UCLA. Richard Brehaut essentially led the Bruins to win with heart stopping and gutsy performance and taking total control of this team. Brehaut's final stats are not impressive. However, he left no doubt that he was in charge showing off both his wheels and his willpower, reminding us of Cade McNown.  Brehaut ran the ball for 61 gutsy yards in 18 carries and was efficient with his throws completing 13 of 19 passes for 127 yards.

As thrilling as the game was, it didn't have to come down to the last minute. It was the conservative play calling of Norm Chow and some questionable wimpy decisions by Rick Neuheisel that kept the game so close and gave us unnecessary heart burns in the closing seconds. Bruins kept playing for FGs time after time, playing it safe, and in process kept Beavers in the game. The conservative play calls for Chow have reached beyond the boiling point and given how Brehaut has emerged as the heart and soul of this team, raises questions about his evaluation performance of offensive talent to date in Westwood.

Anyway, we won the game. Let's hope Richard Brehaut now gets to take full control and keep rallying this team to more inspiring performances. More after the jump.

On the defensive side, Chuck Bullough's unit did a good job against Oregon State, bringing pressure and playing physical football. The freshmen - Jordan Zumwalt, Cassius Marsh and Dietrich Riley - led the way. Zumwalt was awe inspiring blowing up the Quizz. Speaking of blowing Riley served his notice by perhaps leveling one of the most vicious hits of the season absolutely destroying Rodgers. Marsh was solid and stood out as the best linemen in today's game.

Freshmen didn't stand out just on defense. Malcolm  Jones did his when he was called upon in second half, giving the Bruin offense a shot, rushing for 29 yards in 6 carries. I thought Randall Carroll also stood out with a solid game catching 6 passes for 46 yards with some clutch grabs in the closing mins. Bruins ended up rushing for 210 yards in 55 carries. The offensive line over all did a solid job and could have produced better numbers if they were helped out by more creative play calling by Chow.

Anyway, despite being hamstrung by Chow's conservatism we still won. We now have a shot to keep fighting for a bowl bid by following Brehaut's lead. Hope his confidence only builds and gets the team even more fired up for our next game. You can just sense the whole team is ready to run through the wall for number 12.

I am sure you guys have lot more takes and reflections on tonight's huge win. As always, if you have extended thoughts and reflections (more than 75 words), please share them in fanpost. Otherwise, enjoy the night and revel in a Bruin win.

GO BRUINS.