Going into Saturday’s game against Washington State, the
UCLA football team was reeling from consecutive losses on the road
to Oregon and Notre Dame. On Saturday, the Bruins came home, hoping
for a return to their winning ways at the Rose Bowl, where they
were 4-0 this year.
On Saturday, the Bruins (4-4, 2-3 Pac-10) learned that they will
need far more than a change of scenery to win football games.
Defeated and dejected, the Bruins marched off the field under
the lights of a scoreboard that read 37-15 in favor of the Cougars
(6-3, 4-2). Barely two hours before, the Bruins led 15-14, but they
did not record a first down in the second half until 11:26 remained
in the fourth quarter.
Yards came at a premium in the third quarter, with the Bruins
gaining just 27. Even the running game, which had been reliable in
the first half in gaining 57 yards, sputtered coming out of the
gate after halftime.
SLIDESHOW
Click here to see more photos from UCLA Football’s game against
Washington State.
Killing the Bruins’ offense even more, however, was the
play of quarterback Pat Cowan. After the half, Cowan completed just
nine passes in 21 attempts and threw a red-zone interception that
basically iced the game with 10:30 remaining. Right after the
Cougars’ next drive did not result in points, Cowan was given
another opportunity to get the Bruins back into the end zone, but
could not complete a single pass in four attempts. Late in the
game, down 15 points, Cowan showed there is still a lot of work for
him to do to become a capable starting quarterback.
“There was one little thing every time (that stopped our
drives),” Cowan said. “Eleven guys have to do their
job, and it seemed like on every play, one guy didn’t do
(his) job. We just didn’t have it; there is not one thing I
can point to.”
Cowan himself will likely be the recipient of much of that
finger pointing, but on a day when the offense could not get
anything going, the defense, which had been the strong point of the
team, had its worst game of the year. The Bruins allowed 515 total
yards, 405 of which came through the air. Cornerback Rodney Van had
another rough outing, missing numerous tackles and generally
appearing out of position to make the play.
“I’m usually pretty quick in comment, but I’m
going to have to save those comments until I see the tape,”
defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said, in reference to the
players’ miscues. “This is two weeks in a row that
we’ve played a lot of plays (on defense). The bottom line is
we have to get off the field more. I’m just going to leave it
at that.”
The offense could not help the defense get off the field. UCLA
managed a meager 16 first downs, only six of which came in the
first half. The UCLA offense possessed the ball for just 23:01 in
the entire game, and just 8:02 in the second half. They gained just
326 yards.
“We just kept on digging ourselves a deeper ditch,”
defensive end Nikola Dragovic said. “The offense not
converting on second and third down, the defense giving up late
touchdowns. We couldn’t get the ball rolling, we just
couldn’t get going.”
After the game, the Bruins mostly stopped short of calling the
game demoralizing, and it appeared that the postgame message in the
locker room was for everyone to stick together and not point
fingers. With UCLA’s history of late-season collapses under
coach Karl Dorrell, the Bruins will face many questions in the
coming days about whether this is the beginning of another.
“There’s going to be talk of this team
folding,” wide receiver Junior Taylor said.
“We’re not folding. We’re not going to fold.
I’m not going to let us.”
Dorrell himself will face many questions after this game.
With no more easy games on the schedule, Dorrell is staring down
the barrel of possibly ending up in the lower half of the Pac-10, a
disturbing decline for a team in its fourth year under the
coach.
Still, his players firmly believe they can still control their
season.
“I’m sure we’re all going to get heat for
this,” Dragovic said. “You know how they say shit rolls
downhill? (Dorrell) gets yelled at, coaches get yelled at, we get
yelled at.
“We’ve been in this position before. If we beat Cal
next week, it’ll make up for this and Notre Dame. We can make
up this loss with wins. This isn’t the end of the world right
now.”