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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- Much to his chagrin, Washington coach
Rick Neuheisel turned out to be an excellent prognosticator.
A former UCLA quarterback and assistant coach, Neuheisel said he
expected the Bruins to play their best game of the season against
his Huskies (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 23 AP) on Saturday.
|  | | Huskies QB Marques Tuiasosopo scores the game's first touchdown on a 10-yard run. |
They did just that.
Chris Griffith's third field goal of the game, a 22-yarder in
overtime, lifted UCLA to a 23-20 upset over Washington,
bouncing the Huskies out of the driver's seat in the Pac-10 race.
"Hats off to UCLA," Neuheisel said. "This pill was hard to
swallow. Our defense played pretty well, our offense did not make
enough good plays.
"Am I upset? Yes. Am I disturbed? Yes. We must let it go and
start preparing for next week."
Favored by 8½ points, Washington entered the game needing wins
over conference doormats UCLA and Washington State to earn its
first berth in the Rose Bowl in seven years.
But the Bruins (4-6, 2-5) didn't cooperate, instead rebounding from a three-game losing streak in which they had been outscored 105-14.
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Huskies
(6-4, 5-2), and left the Pac-10 race scrambled as it nears an end.
"The defense was fabulous," UCLA coach Bob Toledo said of a unit that had allowed its previous nine opponents an average of 30½ points per game but gave up just three points in the second half to Washington. "We are a young team, and we grew up a little today."
The Bruins had a bye last weekend, and Toledo said, "The kids
worked hard, I told them, 'I've never seen a 3-6 team practice this
hard.' They have great character."
Joey Strycula intercepted a third-and-15 pass by Marques
Tuiasosopo from the UCLA 16-yard line to thwart Washington's
overtime opportunity, and Griffith, a freshman, came through four
plays later.
"When I saw the ball coming, all I said was 'Don't drop it.' It
looked as big as a beach ball," Strycula said.
"Joey's not the biggest and the strongest and the fastest, but
he's a football player," Toledo said. "He's an overachiever, a
blue-collar guy."
Strycula was one of 13 UCLA seniors playing at home for the final time.
The Huskies forced the overtime when freshman John Anderson
kicked a school record-tying 56-yard field goal with 2:32
remaining.
Playing without injured quarterback Cory Paus, the Bruins took a
20-17 lead on third-quarter field goals of 35 and 28 yards by
Griffith, the second with 2:55 left.
Griffith had an opportunity to extend UCLA's lead to six points,
but his 27-yard field goal try was blocked by Toalei Mulitauaopele,
giving the Huskies the ball with 6:04 to play.
Held to one first down in the second half to that point, the
Huskies moved to the UCLA 39 when the drive stalled, and Anderson
then tied Don Martin's 32-year-old school record.
"John said he could make it, so I let him give it a try," Neuheisel said.
Tuiasosopo, who became the first Division I-A quarterback to
rush for more than 200 yards and pass for more than 300 in a game
two weeks ago against Stanford, was 12-of-25 for 134 yards and
netted just 15 yards rushing.
"Marques is not a healthy player, he has been hurt since the
Stanford game," Neuheisel said. "It's still the same hip
injury."
Like his coach, Tuiasosopo said he expected UCLA to play its
best game.
"They're a good team, don't sell them short, even with the
injuries," Tuiasosopo said of the Bruins.
Tuiasosopo said he felt fine, but "just couldn't get it going
today."
Toledo said a key to the game was giving Tuiasosopo "some looks
he hadn't seen. We took chances and calculated risks."
Ryan McCann, like Paus a redshirt freshman, misfired on his
first six passes, but wound up 12-of-23 for 146 yards. Paus
fractured his left collarbone early in the second quarter and
didn't return.
Washington drove 56 yards on its first possession to take a 7-0
lead, scoring on a 10-yard run by Tuiasosopo, but the Bruins
responded with a 74-yard scoring drive capped by an 8-yard scoring
run by DeShaun Foster, who gained 69 yards on 24 carries.
The Bruins went ahead 14-7 early in the second quarter on a 3-yard run by Foster one play after Ricky Manning sacked Tuiasosopo and forced a fumble that Marcus Reese recovered.
Maurice Shaw's 1-yard run with 2:54 left in the second quarter
capped an 80-yard Washington drive as the Huskies tied the game.
Three plays later, McCann fumbled the snap and Jeremiah Pharms
recovered on the UCLA 34, setting up a 50-yard field goal by
Anderson with seven seconds left in the half, giving Washington a
17-14 lead.
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Washington Clubhouse
UCLA Clubhouse
College football Top 25 overview
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Chris Griffith wins it for UCLA in OT.
avi: 602 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Marques Tuiasosopo calls his own number to get UW on the board first.
avi: 662 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
UCLA's Deshaun Foster scores six on the sweep.
avi: 828 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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