Craft rises up, rallies UCLA past Tennessee

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2008 | by David Leon Moore

PASADENA, Calif. -- Intercepted four times in the first half, chewed out by his head coach on the sideline, booed off the field at halftime and surrounded in the UCLA huddle by second-stringers, Kevin Craft got the last word.

Craft, an anonymous third-string junior college transfer quarterback, turned a nightmare into a dream debut for UCLA on Monday night, overcoming a mountain of failure and adversity and slinging the Bruins to a 27-24 overtime victory against 18th-ranked Tennessee.

After three tedious quarters and a frenetic fourth quarter, the end came suddenly -- after the Bruins' Kai Forbath nailed a 42-yard field goal on the first overtime possession, Tennessee's Daniel Lincoln, who hit a 47-yarder to send the game into OT, missed from 34.

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