This Date in College Football Belt History – November 4

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.

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