SAN FRANCISCO – UCLA players walked off the field at AT&T Park, through the tunnel and into the wrong side of the program’s proud history.
With coach Rick Neuheisel already fired, and successor Jim Mora watching from the stands, an already odd postseason appearance for the Pacific-12 Conference’s prime punch line came with low expectations.
Even those proved too hard to reach.
Kevin Prince threw a costly interception that Terry Hawthorne returned for a touchdown, finishing off UCLA’s forgettable season with a 20-14 loss to Illinois in the Fight Hunger Bowl on Saturday.
“This is not the way we wanted to go out, to send our seniors out,” tight end Joseph Fauria said. “But at the same time, I guess there’s some sort of relief for guys that have another year and looking forward to new beginnings.”
The final mark this UCLA team leaves will be its record: a woeful 6-8 for a bowl team.
All hope at a non-losing record for the Bruins ended when Nathan Scheelhaase added a 60-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Jenkins midway through the fourth quarter to seal the first victory for Illinois (7-6) since beating Indiana 12 weeks ago.
“It’s extremely disappointing,” Prince said. “Going for a month thinking about this game, preparing for it, spending a week here, everything leads up to this one moment. And then to fall short, it’s very disappointing.
“It’s upsetting that we couldn’t get one for the seniors.”
The game between two six-win teams who have already fired their head coaches matched the underwhelming expectations.
UCLA was held to 18 yards rushing in its third straight loss. Prince threw two TD passes, including one in the closing minute to Nelson Rosario after the game had been decided.
But it was an earlier pass by Prince that proved decisive and helped give Illinois its first bowl wins in consecutive seasons in school history. Three plays after Derek Dimke missed a 37-yard field goal for Illinois late in the third quarter, Prince dropped back and threw to his left looking for Shaquelle Evans.
Hawthorne read the play perfectly and stepped in front of Evans for the interception and had a clear path to the end zone to put Illini ahead 10-7.
“All gas, no brakes for me,” Hawthorne said.
Dimke added a 37-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, and Scheelhaase and Jenkins combined on their big play to make it 20-7 with 5:36 to go. Scheelhaase finished 18-for-30 for 139 yards with 110 yards rushing to lead the Illinois offense.
Prince was 14 of 29 passing for 201 yards, and the Bruins were held to a season-low in rushing – well below their 190.7 yards-per-game average.
Both teams fired their coaches after disappointing regular seasons with Ron Zook getting let go by Illinois after losing six straight games to end the season, and Neuheisel getting run out at UCLA after a 50-0 loss to rival Southern California in the regular-season finale. Neuheisel coached the Bruins when they lost the Pac-12 title game at Oregon, leaving them as the first team to go to a bowl with a losing record since North Texas in 2001.
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