UA Sports

Total domination

Big-time atmosphere, big-time performance, big-time win. The Wildcats laid ruin the Bruins on Saturday night at raucous Arizona Stadium, knocking No. 7 UCLA from of the ranks of unbeaten with a 52-14 rout. Game 2 of the Willie Tuitama era marked Arizona's first upset of an undefeated team this late in the season since the Wildcats defensively dominated No. 1 Washington 16-3 in 1992. "I'm still just shocked," Tuitama said after his 204-yard passing performance. The first complete game of the season for Arizona (3-6, 2-4 Pac-10) couldn't have come at a better time. With Mike Bell (153 yards) and Gilbert Harris (113) each running for more than 100 yards and the UA defense limiting the Bruins (8-1, 5-1) to 328 total yards, about the only thing the Cats needed was a special teams explosion. They got that when Syndric Steptoe juked his way to a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second half that gave the Cats a 45-7 lead. It put to rest any notions of a patented UCLA comeback. "We knew they had come back in four of their last five games," UA senior safety Darrell Brooks said. "That wasn't going to happen tonight." It looked for a moment like UCLA would show a pulse early in the fourth quarter. But trailing 52-7, the Bruins had a score wiped off the board when a 14-yard touchdown catch by Marcus Everett was reversed on review. Replays showed that Everett clearly stepped out of the back of the end zone before catching Drew Olson's third-down pass over the middle. UCLA's fourth-down try failed when Olson threw high out of the end zone. "Everything went wrong," Olson said. "We got out-played in every way possible." Behind Bell's 119 first-half rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns from freshman phenom Mike Thomas, UA led 21-0 after one quarter and 31-7 at the half. By halftime, the Wildcats had equaled their season high for points in a game. Knowing that UCLA had rallied from 21 points down in the final eight minutes a week ago at Stanford, Arizona kept the "foot on the gas," as UA coach Mike Stoops had suggested earlier in the week. "I don't know of I ever felt comfortable," Stoops said. "When we got to 45, I breathed a little bit." It was the second time that UCLA coach Karl Dorrell had been "Stoops-ified." Bob Stoops' 2003 Oklahoma squad defeated the Bruins 59-24 - the most points scored against the Bruins prior to Saturday night. Arizona scored on its first four possessions and had back-to-back touchdowns on its first two drives for the first time all season. Tuitama completed his first seven passes for 138 yards and a touchdown. He ended the first half 8 of 12 for 145 yards. The Cats out-gained the Bruins 364-160 in total yards in the first two quarters, including 219-39 on the ground. Arizona ended up with a 519-328 advantage in total yards on the night. "We wanted to come out in the second half, and play like it was 0-0," Brooks said. In fact, defense and special teams equaled the Bruins' ouput on Steptoe's return and a fumble recovery in the end zone that made it 52-7 late in the third quarter. Marcus Hollingsworth hesitated, then jumped on the ball in the end zone after a lateral skidded off the hands of UCLA tailback Chris Markey. "I didn't hear a whistle and then I heard (teammate) Wilrey (Fontenot) yelling to jump on the ball," Hollingsworth said. Tuitama, now 2-0 as a starter, fed six different receivers. Thomas led the way with five catches for 104 yards. Thomas sandwiched a 17-yard end-around touchdown on the Cats' first drive and a 48-yard scoring bomb from Tuitama around a Brad Wood 7-yard touchdown catch for the 21-0 lead. Harris then rambled in from 18 yards to make it 28-0 before tight end Marcedes Lewis caught a 10-yard scoring grab from Olson. Nick Folk tacked on a 36-yard field goal on the last snap of the half before another 21-point explosion made it 52-7 heading into the fourth quarter. Bell flipped into the end zone after banging up the middle from 8 yards, and Steptoe followed that with his return. Hollingsworth's fumble recovery ended Arizona's scoring before Olson and Lewis teamed up for a 16-yard touchdown with 6:07 to play. By that time, Arizona fans were either leaving early for an entirely different reason than in the past, or were in the starting blocks to rush the field.