Solid defense not enough for UCLA

UCLA lost the Las Vegas Bowl, but it was through no fault of its defense, which played inspired football for interim head coach DeWayne Walker, the team’s defensive coordinator all season.

The Bruins held Brigham Young to 34 yards rushing, including 2 in the first half on 18 carries, and held the Cougars scoreless in the second half to give themselves a chance en route to a 17-16 loss.

UCLA’s defense, which limited BYU to 265 yards of offense, also set up the team’s lone touchdown in the final seconds of the first half, when freshman defensive tackle Brian Price stripped the ball from BYU running back Harvey Unga (17 carries, 16 yards), and the Bruins recovered on the Cougars’ 4-yard line.

Two plays later, with 12 seconds left in the half, McLeod Bethel-Thompson found Brandon Breazell in the back of the end zone to pull UCLA within 17-13 at halftime.

“That was a huge play for us, to get a touchdown right before halftime,” Walker said. “Defensively, 17 points in the first half was a little too many points (to give up).

“We thought we had to keep them to 10 points to win the game, honestly, but for us to shut these guys out in the second half, you have to give these defensive players a lot of credit.”

The Bruins were in BYU’s backfield no less than five times in the first half, with senior defensive end Bruce Davis smothering Cougars quarterback Max Hall on several occasions. Davis, a second-team All-American, had seven tackles, including 21/2 sacks, forced a fumble and had 31/2 tackles for a loss of 18 yards. He finished the season with 12 sacks and capped his career at UCLA with 29.

Price had four tackles, with three of them for a loss of 9 yards, and Kyle Bosworth led the Bruins in tackles with 12.

“Our job was to come out and show people our defense was for real and this team is for real,” said senior safety Chris Horton, who had seven stops. “I definitely think we did our job.

“We didn’t want to give up 17 points, and they made some plays early in the game, but in the second half, to give up no points, I think we did a great job.”

One of BYU’s two touchdowns came after UCLA fumbled a punt deep in Bruins territory in the first half.

Horton said it was important to the team to play well for Walker.

“We grind week in and week out, and Coach Walker does a wonderful job of preparing us for games,” he said. “I’d love to see Coach in this program as a head coach, because he knows how to get the best of his players.”