LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 10, 2009) – Most coaches preach that perfect practice makes perfect, but tonight the Tigers' coaching staff and players, alike, showed that sometimes working on the fly is the perfect remedy. Trailing 24-10 entering the fourth quarter, No. 24 Occidental made some adjustments and ran some un-practiced plays, clawing their way back into the game by creating opportunities for themselves late in the game. Tied with No. 22 University of Redlands going for a last second field goal to win, Occidental used a last ditch effort en route to their sixth consecutive victory over the visiting Bulldogs, 27-24, tonight at Patterson Field in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference showdown before 1,450 fans.

Facing a 14 point deficit at the break, and after a scoreless third quarter on both sides, Occidental used a pair of phenomenal touchdown efforts coupled with a stellar defensive stop on a blocked field goal attempt in the waning seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Occidental used a 12-play, 80 yard drive capped off by a one yard rushing touchdown from senior Jason Haller to pull within a touchdown at 24-17. After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on consecutive possessions, the Tigers began a drive on their own 31 yard line with just over six minutes to play. Senior quarterback Scott Saunders completed a pair of long passes to sophomore Jordan Washington, the second a 30-yard touchdown completion that concluded with an acrobatic over the shoulder catch above a defender, to pull the Tigers to 24-23. The point after, which was held by punter Alex Groh who does not normally hold, was a tough snap to handle but Groh got the ball vertical in time for Neil Martin to nail the PAT, tying things up at 24-24.

The Bulldogs' quarterback Dan Selway was picked off by sophomore Ayrton Bates at the Oxy 39 yard line with 2:58 to play. Occidental, however, was not able to capitalize and was forced to punt. Groh sent the ball 44 yards and was downed on the Redlands' two yard line, downed by J. Washington, the second time of the game he pinned the Bulldogs deep on their side of the field.

UR used nine plays to drive the ball 85 yards down the field, the longest of the game. Fortunately for the black and orange, Occidental's veteran coaching staff created a new play on the sideline and the Tigers were able to execute it on the fly to block a 30-yard field goal attempt by Redlands' Joe MacMillin, who nailed a 47-yard FG in the second quarter, but missed a 19-yard try in the third quarter. The missed chance left the game tied and sent the game into overtime.

Occidental got the first shot to score in overtime. After a six-yard completion to Chris Washington and a couple of incomplete passes, the Tigers again looked to Martin, who hit a 26-yard field goal, putting the home team up 27-24.

Redlands had an opportunity to do the same but a pair of incomplete passes and a sack by Jim Hildensperger and Jesse Fischer pushed the Bulldogs back 10 yards to the 35 yard line. On a last chance effort Selway lofted the ball into the end zone, and C. Washington nabbed the second Occidental pick of the game to send the Tigers' sideline and fans into a frenzy as time expired and the game drew to a close.

Throughout the game penalties haunted the Bulldogs, with a couple of those coming in inopportune times for the maroon and gray. Redlands was tagged for nine penalties that totaled 76 yards while Occidental had just one for a loss of five early in the game. Redlands lit up the scoreboard on the first drive of the game, but another blocked kick by J. Washington left UR at 6-0. After Groh punted on the Tigers' first possession a UR fumble on the snap allowed Occidental to gain possession on a second and 15 yards when Hildensperger recovered the ball at the UR 21 yard line. After a 15-yard completion to J. Washington, Saunders hit Jason Lehman in the end zone. Martin finished off the play to give Oxy a 7-6 lead. Selway led the Bulldogs 84 yards, finished off with a five yard pass to Brian Putman for the first of two TD catches for the receiver. Redlands opted for, and completed, the two-point conversion to again take a lead at 14-7 as time expired in the first quarter. Martin got the Tigers within four with a 27-yard field goal, but again Selway found Putman in the end zone on a 17-yard completion, putting the maroon and gray up 21-10. MacMillan then kicked a 47-yard field goal, which hit the upright and bounced through for three-points, marking, ultimately, the Bulldogs' final score of the game.

On a night when it seemed like Jordan Washington did it all for the Tigers, he did. The sophomore finished with eight catches for 118 yards, to go along with his two blocks. Senior brother C. Washington was just as effective with three catches, a punt return, an interception and six tackles. While J. Washington led the pack with 118 all purpose yards, Nick Saraceni was right behind with 76 yards in kick returns on four chances with his longest a 23-yard run. Mike Jorgenson also ran back a kickoff for seven yards.

Defensively junior Zac Perkins had a career night with 15 total tackles followed by senior Aaron Stanton who had nine stops. Fischer added another sack of Selway to his assist with Hildensperger while Kyle Spaulding had a solo sack (loss of four). Bates and Fischer finished with eight tackles apiece while breaking up a play apiece as Trace Wallace, who also broke up a play, and Dillon Tucker each tallied seven tackles.

Both quarterbacks passed more than 40 times with Saunders going 25-for-43 with no picks allowed as his counterpart was 28-for-41 with two interceptions. Overall, UR gained 345 yards to Oxy's 271 and once again the Bulldogs showed stellar rushing defense as Occidental gained just 25 yards on the ground. Each team kicked off five times with UR and Oxy punting two and four times, respectively. Twice Groh placed the ball inside the 20 for the Tigers.

Redlands was successful at converting 8-of-13 third down conversion chances while Occidental was 4-for-12. In the red zone Occidental was 4-for-4 while Redlands was limited to 3-for-5 by the Tigers. Each team scored two passing and one rushing touchdown.

In a total team effort Occidental (3-1, 2-0 SCIAC) pushes their overall record against Redlands to 52-47-2. The Tigers remain undefeated in SCIAC play at 2-0 while Redlands (3-1) falls to 1-1 in their first loss of the season.

Next weekend the Tigers will play their final non-conference game of the season when they host the Chapman University Panthers at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 on Patterson Field.