Bruins rally around Riley
Just as the Rose Bowl was starting to rock, a Derrick Coleman 20-yard touchdown giving the UCLA football team a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Bruins were brought alarmingly back down to earth in their 31-14 win over Cal on Saturday night at the Rose Bowl.
After smashing into Bears running back Isi Sofele on 1st-and-10 at UCLA 26-yard line, sophomore safety Dietrich Riley fell to the ground and did not move.
He stayed on the ground for an extended period before being placed onto a stretcher and carted off the field, at which point he waved to the crowd and gave thumbs up. Riley was taken immediately to Huntington Hospital for tests, which all came out negative, and a UCLA athletics department spokesman said later that Riley had regained feeling and movement in all his extremities.
"I think it was a stinger where he felt like he couldn't feel anything and then the feeling came back," UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel said. "Caution is the order of the day, and they took care of him."
The Bruins were visibly shaken by the play but rallied quickly, with redshirt freshman safety Tevin McDonald intercepting a Zach Maynard pass just two plays later.
Players were almost in tears in the locker room describing the play, even after they'd heard the news that Riley was seemingly OK.
"I've known Dietrich since high school, and he and I are locker neighbors - we joke around a lot - so to see him to go down almost brought me to tears," junior defensive end Datone Jones said. "We did it for him."
Really, really, good news. For those of us old enough, it looked Daryl Stingley-bad for the first few seconds out there.
Ok, Neuheisel is our guy. Love the BTB shirts. Does that stand for Back To Basics. It is better than back to losing. Now, let's get 2 wins in a row.
Huntington Hospital is a teaching affiliate for U$C-Keck. Beware!
Dietrich Riley is an extremely close friend and am so thank full for the good news.
@BruinRouge Huntington Hospital is one of the best local hospitals, and did you ever think it maybe a good think to be a truing hospital for one of the best hospital's in the country. So who cares if the are affiliated with USC they are saving lives. You might want to rethink your comment, before insulting some of the best doctors at huntington some of which actually work at County USC and Ucla santa monica!
Dietrich Riley is an extremely close friend and am so thank full for the good news.
@BruinRouge Huntington Hospital is one of the best local hospitals, and did you ever think it maybe a good think to be a truing hospital for one of the best hospital's in the country. So who cares if the are affiliated with USC they are saving lives. You might want to rethink your comment, before insulting some of the best doctors at huntington some of which actually work at County USC and Ucla santa monica!
Thank God Dietrich is going to be okay. All the guys played focused football today. Makes me feel a little better about taking on ASU next week. If the D brings their A game, we might have a chance. Also, Coleman is a BEAST. Keep starting him, Coach Rick.
UCLAfan, i'm with you! Doctors are professional and really don't give a _ _ _ _ who they are treating- they're not biased football fans on the job.
For those of us at the Rose Bowl, that was a really scary moment. You could have heard a pin drop while the trainers were all crowding around Riley. There was an audible sigh of relief from the whole stadium when they finally showed him on the big screen, conscious and giving a thumbs up. Glad he's okay.
Relax over the USC hospital reference. It was only a joke.
(Man! You'd think that someone mentioned Obama's bankrupting and disarming the Republic. Sheesh.)
BTB was not back to basics. It was a war reference. For you war buffs I will let you figure it out. Personally I think they should stick with the pink. Let it carry them through November.
Hint... Cortez