UCLA Dream Season Turns Into Nightmare

By BILL PLASCHKE

Dec. 6, 1998 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

MIAMI — After weeks of worry that a computer would cost them their chance at the national championship, the UCLA football team crashed Saturday before the computer had a chance.

Infected by the virus that is their defense, the favored Bruins lost to the University of Miami, 49-45, to blow their unbeaten season, their 20-game winning streak, and their desired spot in the national championship Fiesta Bowl.

A couple of hours later, one of UCLA’s two rivals for that Fiesta spot--previously unbeaten Kansas State--was also upset, 36-33 in two overtimes, by Texas A&M; in the Big 12 conference championship game.

This left Tennessee as the lone remaining unbeaten national title contender, and in the last game of the day, the Volunteers escaped with a 24-14 comeback victory over Mississippi State.

Tennessee, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, is expected to play Florida State for the national championship in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 4 in Tempe, Ariz.

The Seminoles, also with only one loss, are expected to move past UCLA and Kansas State today in the complicated bowl championship series rankings, which use a combination of computers and coaches and writers polls.

“It’s been an incredible championship Saturday,” said Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer.

Not if you’re UCLA or Kansas State, which entered the game rated second and third in the BCS.

“There comes a certain point where you just can’t keep outscoring people,” said shaken Bruin Coach Bob Toledo. “At some point, you also have to stop them.”

UCLA fell to 10-1 and will probably have to “settle” for a spot in what this season is not considered a championship bowl--the Rose Bowl--against Wisconsin.

Before Saturday, everyone was curious how the computers would rank the three teams if they remained unbeaten. But in blowing a 38-21 lead in the final 16 minutes of the first game of the day, UCLA quickly took care of that dilemma. A defense that allowed an incredible 689 total yards--including 299 rushing yards by Edgerrin James--buckled while Miami scored on its last four possessions. This included a one-yard run by James in the final minute for the victory.

The win overshadowed arguably this season’s best pressure performance by a quarterback, as Bruin Cade McNown threw for 513 yards and five touchdowns while also running for one.

“Oh well, we’re still going to the Rose Bowl,” said UCLA guard Andy Meyers. “Didn’t that used to be the big one?”

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Bill Plaschke

Bill Plaschke, an L.A. Times sports columnist since 1996, is a member of the National Sports Media Hall of Fame and California Sports Hall of Fame. He has been named national Sports Columnist of the Year nine times by the Associated Press, and twice by the Society of Professional Journalists and National Headliner Awards. He is the author of six books, including a collection of his columns entitled “Plaschke: Good Sports, Spoilsports, Foul Balls and Oddballs.” Plaschke is also a panelist on the popular ESPN daily talk show, “Around the Horn.” He is in the national Big Brothers/Big Sisters Alumni Hall of Fame and has been named Man of the Year by the Los Angeles Big Brothers/Big Sisters as well as receiving a Pursuit of Justice Award from the California Women’s Law Center. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth.

UCLA Dream Season Turns Into Nightmare

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