UCLA sophomore wide receiver Craig Bragg enjoyed a hard-earned
slice of pepperoni pizza following the Bruins 37-7 victory over
Arizona.
It was a pizza delivery for Bragg after he had delivered for
UCLA ““ hot, fresh and on time.
Just a minute into the second half, and with UCLA clinging to a
20-7 lead, Bragg returned a punt 20 yards to the Arizona 33. Then,
coaches decided to call a simple stop route that, in the end,
sealed the Wildcats’ fate.
“It wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t gotten
the ball into his hands,” UCLA head coach Bob Toledo
said.
“But we said, “˜Listen, let’s pass the first
play.’ And then he takes it for a touchdown, and we stop
passing anymore. He’s a game-breaker.”
What happened next was one of Bragg’s more memorable
touchdowns in his collegiate career.
After taking the short pass from freshman quarterback Drew
Olson, Bragg sidestepped Wildcat cornerback David Hinton. He then
gave safety Clay Hardt a stiff-arm to the helmet before avoiding
two diving tacklers. Off-balance and seemingly on the verge of
going down, Bragg managed to regain his balance, avoid another
Wildcat defender and trot into the end zone as the Wildcat crowd
oohed and aahed. In total, Bragg made five tacklers miss.
“The play is designed for me to make something
happen,” Bragg said. “After the play, I saw the fans
started to leave the stadium. That’s always a good sign for
the away team. When the fans start to leave, that means that
they’ve given up.”
The play had the number one written all over it. It was
Olson’s first touchdown as a UCLA quarterback, and prompted
Olson to remark after the game, “It was nice to finally get
my first touchdown, but it wasn’t me at all ““ it was
all Craig.”
The play catapulted Bragg past J.J. Stokes into becoming the No.
1 all-time sophomore receiving yardage leader in school history
with 738 yards.
The touchdown was also the first for Bragg in the past three
games. Following a 200-yard effort against Oregon and a 140-yard
effort against Cal, Bragg seemed to be lost in the shuffle for the
past two games.
The UCLA coaches were determined to get the ball into
Bragg’s hands in any way possible. They handed off to him
(Bragg took a hand-off for four yards in the first quarter), kicked
to him (he had five punt returns for 40 yards) and, of course,
threw to him (he finished with three catches for 64 yards).
“I love it when the ball’s in my hands,” Bragg
said. “Toledo knows I’m a play-maker. Any way that I
can make plays, that’s great. That’s my role on this
team ““ make the big play, and tonight, I did.”