Rick Neuheisel’s crowd deflater

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UCLA had a chance to score a touchdown just before halftime of its game against Stanford this afternoon at the Rose Bowl. With the help of several Stanford penalties -- including a very ill-considered late hit by Stanford’s Michael Thomas on Bruins quarterback Kevin Craft, who had scrambled out of bounds, and a pass interference call with under five seconds left -- UCLA had the ball on the Stanford two-yard line with two seconds to go and a 14-3 deficit as some extra incentive.

If Rick Neuheisel’s young Bruins are to have any chance of going to a bowl game, of earning themselves some concrete proof that they are improving, beating Stanford here is imperative and it doesn’t seem as if a second field goal, when the (rather sparse) homecoming crowd was urging for some daring and impetuousness, is going to help much this afternoon.

But Neuheisel took the safe play. He had Kai Forbath kick the 19-yard field goal. Stanford leads 14-6 at halftime. Many in the crowd booed. Then the Rose Bowl turned silent as the Bruins ran off the field.

-- Diane Pucin