Pickin' Splinters » Bruce Snyder

This Date in College Football Belt History – November 4

Casey — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:38:01 +0000

The 22^nd ranked, 6-2 UCLA Bruins of coach Terry Donahue traveled to Tempe to meet the 4-4 Arizona State Sun Devils of coach Bruce Snyder. The Bruins planned to reclaim The Belt led by All-American OT Jonathan Ogden as well as All-Pac 10 players RB Karim Abdul-Jabbar & C Mike Flanagan but the Sun Devils had other ideas. The Bruins led 27-10 at the half but 4 fumbles & 7 penalties gave the Sun Devils all the chances they needed for a comeback. Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 QB Jake Plummer threw for 312 yards with 2 touchdowns leading the Sun Devils to a 37-33 victory to retain The Belt. UCLA took a 3-0 lead when PK Bjorn Merten hit a 39-yard field goal & when CB Paul Guidry returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown, the Bruins had a 10-0 lead. The Sun Devils responded with a 16-play, 89-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touchdown run by RB Michael Martin. Merten connected from 22 yards as UCLA pushed the lead to 13-7 before Arizona State’s PK Robert Nycz hit from 26 yards to get the Sun Devils within 3 points at 13-10. UCLA then put together an 11-play, 80-yard drive with Abdul-Jabbar scoring on a 1-yard run for a 20-10 advantage. UCLA’s QB Cade McNown scored on a 4-yard touchdown run with 0:06 left in the half as the Bruins took the 27-10 halftime lead. The Sun Devils scored on a 9-yard touchdown run by All-Pac 10 WR Keith Poole on their opening drive of the 3^rd quarter & Plummer connected with RB Ricky Boyer to get the Sun Devils close at 27-24. The next 4 UCLA possessions resulted in a safety & 3 fumbles. The Bruins tried a reverse handoff on a punt return but Arizona State’s CB Lamont Morgan tackled UCLA’s WR Derek Ayers in the end zone for a safety. After a Sun Devils’ punt, Arizona State’s S Traivon Johnson recovered an Abdul-Jabbar fumble & on the next play, Plummer found WR Kenny Mitchell for a 27-yard touchdown pass giving Arizona State a 34-27 lead after Plummer scored on the 2-point conversion. UCLA drove to the Arizona State 9-yard line on their next possession but McNown fumbled & Johnson was there to recover again. The Sun Devils could not score on that turnover but McNown fumbled again on the next Bruins’ drive & LB Derek Smith recovered for Arizona State. Nycz hit a 36-yard field goal giving the Sun Devils a 37-27 lead with 8:51 to play. UCLA drove 80 yards in 11 plays with McNown scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run but the Sun Devils were able to run off the last 5 minutes without incident. Poole finished with 9 catches for 167 yards with his rushing touchdown for Arizona State while Abdul-Jabbar finished with 207 yards rushing with a touchdown but the critical fumble. McNown threw for 289 yards but 2 fumbles that thwarted drives for UCLA. Arizona State finished the season 6-5 while the Bruins finished 7-5 in Donahue’s final season. UCLA would play for The Belt again in 2004.

The College Football Belt

This Date in College Football Belt History – October 28

Casey — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:52:58 +0000

The 3-4 Arizona State Sun Devils of coach Bruce Snyder traveled to Eugene to meet the 10^th ranked, 6-1 Oregon Ducks of first-year coach Mike Bellotti. The Ducks featured All-American CB Alex Molden as well as All-Pac 10 players LB Jeremy Asher & RB Ricky Whittle as it looked as if they would claim their first Belt reign but Oregon had a record of 0-8-1 with a history of near misses in Belt games. Arizona State’s All-Pac 10 QB Jake Plummer led two touchdown drives in the final 5 minutes as the Sun Devils defeated Oregon 35-24 to retain The Belt in a game that featured 5 lead changes. Oregon got the only points of the 1^st quarter when PK Joshua Smith connected on a 42-yard field goal. In the 2^nd quarter, the Sun Devils scored on a 4-yard touchdown run by RB Michael Martin & a 38-yard touchdown pass from Plummer to WR Kenny Mitchell to take a 14-3 lead. The Ducks finished the 1^st half scoring with a 14-yard touchdown pass from QB Tony Graziani to WR Cristin McLemore. The Ducks took the lead in the 3^rd quarter when Whittle scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. Arizona State’s DE Mike Langridge gave the Sun Devils the lead again when he took the ball out of Graziani’s hand & ran 32 yards for a touchdown. Trailing 21-17, Graziani scrambled 33 yards for a touchdown giving the Ducks a 24-21 lead. With 4:16 to play, Arizona State chose not to kick the tying field goal as Plummer faced a 4^th & 1 from the Oregon 3-yard line. He found TE Steve Bush for the touchdown giving the Sun Devils the lead 28-24. After an Oregon punt, Arizona State drove 49 yards in 6 plays with Martin scoring on a 6-yard touchdown run to secure the victory. Plummer finished with 232 yards passing with 2 touchdowns & Mitchell added 5 catches for 106 yards to his touchdown. Grazini threw for 340 yards completing 27 of 55 pass attempts with a touchdown & McLemore had 9 catches for 108 yards with a touchdown in the loss. Arizona State finished the season 6-5 while the Ducks finished 9-3 & ranked 18^th nationally. Oregon would play for The Belt again in 2005.

The College Football Belt

This Date in College Football Belt History – October 6

Casey — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:24:05 +0000

First-year coach Terry Shea brought the 3-1-1 San Jose State Spartans to Berkley to meet the 2-2 California Golden Bears of coach Bruce Snyder. California’s All-Pac 10 RB Russell White rushed for 162 yards with a touchdown & RB Anthony Wallace rushed for 143 yards with 2 touchdowns after newspapers quoted the San Jose State defensive players saying they would hold the Golden Bears to negative yards rushing. The Golden Bears still had to survive an unsuccessful 2-point conversion attempt to retain The Belt with a 35-34 victory over the Spartans. California scored just 56 seconds into the game after San Jose State’s P Eric Negrey fumbled the snap on a punt attempt. Wallace scored his first touchdown seconds later on a 2-yard run. The Spartans responded with their own scoring drive highlighted by a 65-yard pass from QB Ralph Martini to WR Bobby Blackmon. Martini finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to WR Maceo Barbosa to tie the game at 7-7. Late in the 1^st quarter, California got the lead back with a 31-yard touchdown pass from QB Mike Pawlawski to WR Mike Caldwell but the Spartans quickly tied the game at 14-14 when RB Sheldon Canley scored on a 4-yard run. Early in the 2^nd quarter, San Jose State took their only lead of the game with Martini throwing a 26-yard touchdown pass to WR David Blakes before Wallace scored his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run sending the teams to halftime tied at 21-21. In the 3^rd quarter, White scored on a 10-yard touchdown run & set-up another touchdown with a spectacular 27-yard run on which he reversed field after nearly being forced out of bounds. Pawlawski’s 5-yard touchdown pass to WR Brian Treggs put the Golden Bears up 35-21 entering the 4^th quarter. Wallace fumbled at the California 6-yard line & the Spartans scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass from Martini to Barbosa making the score California 35 San Jose State 28 with 4:27 left in the game. When the Spartans got the ball back, Martini hit Canley on a short pass over the middle that Canley turned into a 53-yard touchdown pass with 2:23 left to play. San Jose State chose to play for the win but the pass on the 2-point conversion attempt fell incomplete & the Golden Bears held on for the win. Pawlawski finished with 160 yard passing with 2 touchdowns as the Golden Bears held the ball for 37:07 of the game. Martini threw for 300 yards with 4 touchdowns; Canley rushed for 108 yards with his 2 scores, & Blackmon had 4 catches for 112 yards. California finished the season 7-4-1 while the Spartans finished 9-2-1 & Big West Champions. San Jose State would play for The Belt again in 1993.

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