After a 36-point loss at Arizona on Oct. 20, embittered and emboldened UCLA fans started an Occupy UCLA Athletics campaign, a derivation of the Occupy Wall Street movement protesting big business across the country.
Turns out, the Bruins are still into capitalism.
UCLA scored 24 points off five Cal turnovers, including three deep in Bear territory, and the Bruins rolled 31-14 in front of 55,604 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night.
An aggressive defensive line harried Cal quarterback Zach Maynard into four interceptions – three by redshirt freshman safety Tevin McDonald – and a week after allowing 573 yards to the Wildcats, UCLA gave up just 333 to the Bears.
Junior defensive lineman Datone Jones, playing extensively in the interior because of the suspension of sophomore defensive tackle Cassius Marsh – one of six Bruins suspended for their roles in a brawl with Arizona with four seconds left in the first half of the loss – had a season-high six tackles and two sacks as part of a defensive effort that forced interceptions on three of Cal’s last four drives.
“We burned the boats, man,” said Jones, referring to the ‘BTB’ shirts that players wore on the sidelines, a motto that signifies no retreat. “It was a suicide mission we had.”
Playing the role of kamikaze, junior quarterback Kevin Prince.
With a directive from Neuheisel to play with abandon despite a history of injury, Prince did indeed embrace contact, shying away from no one while rushing for a career-high 163 yards on 19 carries.
“If it’s one-on-one, I’ll lower the shoulder,” said Prince, who has already suffered two shoulder sprains this season. “If it’s a couple more guys, I try to get down and slide. But Coach Neuheisel talked to me about that on Tuesday; running against Arizona last week, I was a little more cautious. Coach Neuheisel told me not to worry about that and just to run as hard as I can.”