By Jon Gold
Staff Writer
One second.
Count it.
One.
A snap, a gust, a fleeting moment, 1/3600th of a college football game.
Maybe long enough for a coach to save a season.
Maybe long enough for a team to find faith.
Definitely long enough for a legend to chase away his demons.
After Kai Forbath missed two field goals – the third time in his illustrious career that he’s failed twice – the UCLA senior kicker just ached for one more shot against Oregon State on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
One more chance and one more second.
He got it.
After the scoreboard hit zeroes after a Richard Brehaut-to-Randall Carroll 12-yard completion at the Beaver 34-yard line, replay officials put a second back on the clock.
Plenty of time for Forbath to hit a 51-yard kick as time expired, lifting the Bruins to a 17-14 win over Oregon State and erasing a three-game losing streak in front of 64,330.
“In my head, we were going to overtime, but once they put that second back on, then its, alright I’m going to start praying,” Brehaut said. “I’m going to start hoping to God that Kai makes this, and I knew he would. He’s not the best in the country for nothing.”
It was Brehaut’s job – and wide receiver Randall Carroll’s – to set him up.
After the UCLA defense held Oregon State to a three-and-out following a Forbath 46-yard miss, the Bruin offense got the ball back at its 17-yard line. After five plays, including pass completions to Taylor Embree for 11 yards and Carroll for five, UCLA had the ball on the Beaver 46-yard line and four seconds on the clock.
After a timeout, the Bruins came back out and Brehaut quickly hit Carroll on the left sideline on a quick 10-yard out. But Carroll saw a deep cushion from Oregon State cornerback Jordan Payer and decided to stretch it further, dancing his way to a 12-yard gain before going out of bounds as time expired.
“When they reset the clock, I knew I had a full four seconds,” Carroll said. “In the huddle, we were going over different routes I was going to run. The whole time, I was counting in my head how much time I had left. But when I finally got the ball, I was trying to get some extra yardage. I knew I had time left.
“When they said we were going into overtime, I was like, ‘That can’t be right.'”
A week after hauling in a 68-yard touchdown pass from Brehaut, the first of both careers, Carroll called the quick pass more satisfying, though he admitted the long bomb was pretty sweet, too.
But the long ball was not there on Saturday, as Oregon State wasn’t about to be beat deep.
Instead, the Beavers let the Bruins chip away.
UCLA two touchdown drives both went for more than 70 yards, the first an eight-play, 72-yard drive on the team’s first possession, capped off by a Brehaut seven-yard touchdown run.
The second, though, was even more deliberate, offensive coordinator Norm Chow more calculating than a serial killer and just as ruthless.
Down 14-7 after Oregon State wideout Marcus Wheaton’s 22-yard touchdown end-around on the opening first drive of the second half, UCLA went 70 yards in 20 plays, capped off by a Johnathan Franklin one-yard touchdown run. The drive ate up more than nine minutes of clock as Franklin gained 25 of his 100 yards – his fourth time hitting the century mark this year – and kept the Bruin defense fresh for the fourth quarter, when they allowed just 29 yards.
“We want to be able to carry this team,” Franklin said. “We want to be able to put this team on our backs. It’s a feeling you can’t describe – everybody counting on you. But we were versatile, we weren’t just one-dimensional.”
They weren’t at the end at least.
UCLA attempted only eight passes heading into the fourth quarter before Brehaut completed seven-of-11 passes for 61 yards in the fourth quarter.
None more important than the last.
“Randall knew he had to get just a little bit and then get out of bounds,” Brehaut said. “That was something I knew I could do. I knew I could catch it and throw it.
” But I was like get out Randall! Damn, bro, get out! You’re not going to the crib! Just get out!”