Not even a career effort by UCLA senior tight end Marcedes Lewis
could save the Bruins on Saturday.
Lewis, UCLA’s leading receiver, caught a career-high 11
passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bruins sputtered
on offense, amassing just 328 total yards.
“Whatever I did doesn’t matter,” Lewis said.
“Our offense was just out of sync all day, and we were never
able to get on our feet.”
The Bruins’ next leading receiver was Joe Cowan, who
finished the game with 32 yards receiving.
There were numerous problems that plagued the Bruins’
offense Saturday.
The Bruins and quarterback Drew Olson regularly came to the line
of scrimmage with less than 10 seconds on the game clock. This
caused the Bruins to call three early first-half timeouts, without
any to spare for the end of the half.
“There were (problems) getting the plays called,”
Lewis said. “Just miscommunication. We really had no time to
key the defense. Sometimes we got out there late and they were
flying around, making plays, and we couldn’t adjust to
it.”
There were dropped passes by UCLA receivers, and the Bruins
committed a turnover on their own goal line for the second-straight
game.
The Bruins averaged a season-low 4.3 yards per play, and Drew
Olson was sacked for a season-high four times, culminating in a
paltry 14 points for an offense that was previously ranked fifth in
the nation in scoring.
“I’m just shocked, to tell you the truth,”
Bruins offensive coordinator Tom Cable said. “I thought
coming in, we had a good game plan. Its just disappointing the way
we came out and played.”
The lone bright spot in the game for the Bruins was Lewis, who
moved into fourth all-time on UCLA’s career touchdown
receptions with 19, and moved into 10th all-time in career
receptions with 116.
Lewis, scoring two touchdowns, accounted for one-third of
UCLA’s offense, but the points came after the Bruins were
well out of the game, already down 28-0.
“We knew we had been in this position (trailing from a
large deficit) before, but we relied on that, and it ended up
kicking us in the butt,” Lewis said. “It was a kind of
state of panic after a while, and we were never able to fix
it.”
OLSON TIES RECORD: With his two touchdowns on
Saturday, Drew Olson tied the all-time UCLA single-season record
with 25. His two touchdown passes came in the second and fourth
quarters, and the senior is now tied with former UCLA quarterback
Cade McNown, who set the record in the 1998.
Drew Olson was replaced by redshirt freshman Ben Olson with 2:57
left in the fourth quarter.
TOUCHDOWN DENIED: UCLA wide receiver Marcus
Everett caught a potential touchdown at the beginning of the fourth
quarter, but the play was overturned after the referees ruled that
he stepped out of bounds before making the catch.
Everett’s touchdown would have broken Drew Olson’s
career record, but the Bruins were already down 52-7 at the time of
the play.
“The play wouldn’t have mattered,” Everett
said. “It was tough for offense to move the ball all day, and
any time we had a chance, we just couldn’t
capitalize.”
DREW REINJURED: Running back Maurice Drew was
taken out in the third quarter with a right knee contusion and was
replaced by freshman Kahlil Bell.
Drew came back in for punt returns and as a receiver, but was
essentially ineffective after the first half.
“When I went back out on the field, I was limping,”
Drew said, “so the coaching staff decided not to put me out
there anymore at running back.”
EXTRA POINTS: Arizona is now 5-2 against UCLA
in November … In seven out of nine games, the Bruins have given
up a score on first drive … Arizona’s punt return for a
touchdown in the third quarter was its first in five years … Up
52-14, with 3:03 to go in the fourth quarter, Arizona called a
timeout and decided to throw the ball to the end zone on fourth
down and seven. The pass was incomplete.