Bruins bounce back in home opener

There were quite a few butterflies in quite a few stomachs, not least of all Coach Boreale’s, before UCLA hosted BYU. The WAC runs a lot of wide open sets and Coach was a little unsure of the secondary after the romp at Arkansas. The offense had just switched to the Notre Dame playbook, and tensions were running high. All the worrying was for naught, as the Bruins took care of the Mormons 31-14. Reports are that the Bruins were inspired by an early screening of Rocky Balboa. Willis Johnson, who is now myteriously left-handed, had a great day going 16 for 24 with 302 yards and 3 TDs. The only blemishes on the otherwise stellar performance was 1 sack and 3! interceptions. Blame the INTs on the right-left switch. After the game, Willis said he hopes this performance proves to his old man that he would have been tough enough for the Marines. His dad said that Marines don’t throw interceptions. Chris Markey and Jimmy Stevens combined for 183 rushing yards, but no TDs. Senior captain Trey Brown had 5 receptions for 74 yards and a TD. He is clearly Johnson’s favorite target. A close second is TE Karl Thurmond (CPT WHAT!?!) who had 3 receptions for 74 yards and a TD. Matt Slater had 63 yards on 4 receptions, and is losing his standing as a Schiavone award finalist. The defense gave up an 82 yard TD pass to start the game, but settled down after that and limited the Cougars to one other score. TJ Smalley took care of some business on D with 5 tackles and an INT. The youth of the team is showing for the 3 penalties for 35 yards, including a 15 yarder for excessive celebration when Thurmond faked a Mormon drive-by after his TD. Trey Brown and Gary Tinsley may have also joined in. Even so, the boys are psyched for their Pac 10 opener this week.