Football: Desert meltdown

UCLA’s season may have peaked seven minutes too early.

After a touchdown gave the Bruins an 11-point cushion midway
through the final quarter, it appeared that UCLA had secured its
biggest win of the season and was in position to seize third place
in the Pac-10.

Then things fell apart.

In a whirlwind final seven minutes, the Sun Devils took
advantage of some critical Bruin mistakes, scoring two touchdowns
and a field goal to snatch a thrilling 48-42 victory.

“It hurts man, it hurts,” junior linebacker Justin
London said. “It’s going to feed the negative things a
lot of people want to say about this team.”

“This is a very good football team and we gave away a game
today. And that’s what hurts the most.”

Unfortunately for UCLA (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10), it will be at least
one week before that hurt can subside.

The Bruins were well on their way to their first victory of the
year over a ranked opponent, with two very winnable home games on
the schedule the next two weeks.

But any vision of a major bowl berth likely vanished for UCLA
fans and was instead replaced by fears that a second consecutive
late-season collapse could be on the horizon. Last year, the
Bruins, who have now lost two in a row, started 6-2 before losing
their last five games of the season.

“We were really trying to rebound from last week,”
said senior safety Ben Emanuel, who led the team with 10 tackles.
“We needed this win for our morale and to get the season
rolling in our favor.”

Little about this year’s team has resembled last
year’s now that the Bruins are relying on a high-powered
offense to make up for their defensive woes.

It was the same story Saturday.

The offense had its way most of the day, racking up 535 yards,
five touchdowns, and two field goals, and was primed to be the
day’s hero in spite of some costly mistakes.

Junior quarterback Drew Olson, who had not thrown an
interception in two-plus games, threw four Saturday amid an
otherwise good performance. Olson threw for a career-high 325 yards
and two touchdowns, completing passes to 10 different
receivers.

The defense also had its moments, notably its three
interceptions against highly touted Sun Devil quarterback Andrew
Walter. However, UCLA repeatedly blew coverages and gave Walter an
eternity to throw the ball. He finished with 415 yards and six
touchdowns.

“It’s our bad,” junior linebacker Spencer
Havner said. “The offense scored 42 points. You can win two
games with 42 points.”

Both of the late touchdowns No. 21 Arizona State (6-1, 3-1)
scored could be traced to lapses by the UCLA defense.

With UCLA up double digits, wideout Derek Hagan beat freshman
cornerback Trey Brown for a 46-yard score to bring the Sun Devils
to 42-37.

After the Bruins went three and out on their ensuing possession,
they punted the ball back to the Sun Devils, who quickly exposed
flaws in the UCLA pass coverage again.

On third and two from its own 35-yard line, the Bruin defense
lined up in the wrong formation and Havner scrambled to cover
receiver Terry Richardson without safety help. Richardson beat him
easily and outraced junior safety Jarrad Page to the end zone for
what proved to be the game-winning score.

Both touchdowns came on just three plays. The first drive lasted
36 seconds, and the next just 22 seconds.

“The whole defense missed the call,” defensive
coordinator Larry Kerr said. “Kids lined up wrong. We had the
wrong guy lined up there covering (Richardson). When you line up
wrong, you’re confused and you don’t play
hard.”

Down 45-42, the Bruins still had plenty of time to mount a
comeback with just under five minutes left. However, on second
down, Olson was pressured out of the pocket and floated a ball
downfield that was easily picked off inside the Bruins’
20-yard line.

The Bruin defense was able to stifle the Sun Devils, holding
them to a field goal and keeping the game within one score.

With three minutes left, the Bruins’ final drive started
off well with two first downs. But on second and five inside
Arizona State territory, the attack stalled. Maurice Drew was
dropped for a three-yard loss on a second-down screen, and Olson
was off target twice in a row on the right sideline, ending the
Bruins’ hopes.

“That’s how the game went, back and forth”
Kerr said. “You look at the whole game, and it was almost
like, who was going to make the last play? And that’s what
happened. They did and we didn’t.”

UCLA will have a rough time moving on. What was shaping into a
triumphant statement to the Pac-10 suddenly turned into an
embarrassing display of errors.

The Bruins hope that this game, and the final minutes, do not
turn into the season’s turning point.

“We did not play well enough to win the game,” coach
Karl Dorrell said. “We made too many mistakes and
turnovers.”

“It’s unfortunate, but they learned from this loss.
This one hurt, but they’ll bounce back next week.”

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