In his postgame press conference, UCLA football coach Rick Neuheisel made a point to thank the fans in attendance Saturday who stayed through the fourth quarter of the Bruins’ game against Arizona.
"It must have been hard to watch," he said.
UCLA (1-2) stayed with Arizona (3-1) for most of the game. The Bruin defense shut out the Wildcat offense in the third quarter, and with 15 minutes remaining, UCLA trailed by just seven points.
All that time, the Bruins were waiting for a big play from their offense or special teams ““ something to change the dynamic, to provide a bit of momentum.
That play never came.
Arizona dominated the fourth quarter and beat a listless UCLA team 31-10 in front of 65,434 at the Rose Bowl. UCLA’s defense scored the team’s only touchdown after linebacker Reggie Carter forced a fumble and defensive end Korey Bosworth recovered it in the end zone. The Bruins’ offense has scored just three points in its last two games.
"We get into these games, and we can’t help our defense," offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. "We can’t expect our defense to hold on as long as they did today."
The Bruins’ running game finally improved after an abysmal two games, but this time quarterback Kevin Craft struggled with his accuracy, and UCLA could not move the ball through the air. Craft finished with just 81 yards passing and no completion longer than 15 yards.
Craft was sacked three times and pressured constantly.
"We made some improvements," offensive guard Darius Savage said. "But not enough."
Turnovers did not lead to the Bruins’ demise this week, although Terrence Austin did fumble a punt that led to an Arizona touchdown.
The feeling afterward was that the Bruins just didn’t step up in the game’s most crucial moments.
Trailing 17-10 near the start of the third quarter, UCLA converted a fourth-and-short to move into Arizona territory.
Craft couldn’t find any receiver on first down and ducked out-of-bounds for a one-yard gain. On second down, he hit wide receiver Dominique Johnson, but Johnson dropped the ball. On third down Craft threw well behind wide receiver Antwon Moutra.
Afterwards Neuheisel would cite that set of downs as an emblem of his team’s struggle.
"You get opportunities to make plays, and you have to make them," Neuheisel said. "We’ve got to be mentally tougher to make those plays. That’s what good teams do."
Arizona did not need to worry about making big plays; Mike Thomas, the Wildcats’ shifty senior wide receiver, took care of that.
In the second quarter, Thomas shook UCLA safety Rahim Moore and gained 52 yards on a screen pass. The play set up Arizona’s second touchdown, which put them up 17-7.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Thomas broke a 26-yard punt return. Four plays later Arizona quaterback Tuitama found tight end Rob Gronkowski for a touchdown.
Then Thomas helped Arizona seal the win when he raced past UCLA corner Alterraun Verner and caught a 43-yard fade pass. Shortly after, the Wildcats scored their fourth and final touchdown and put the game out of the Bruins’ reach.
Thomas finished with 115 yards receiving ““ 34 more than all UCLA receivers combined. He also averaged 17.8 yards per punt return.
The punt returns proved to be especially damaging to the Bruins because they gave Arizona excellent field position.
"Every time I looked around it was blue everywhere," Thomas said of UCLA’s punt coverage. "I just tried to set them up and go the other way, so I could find the wall (of blockers)."
Now the Bruins must find a way to rebound before facing a tough challenge next week. UCLA will host No. 25 Fresno State next Saturday.
It will be an important week of practice; the team must emphasize individual improvement and sharper focus, coaches and players said.
"We are who we are," Chow said. "We have the players we have. We’re just going to have to coach better and be more specific about what we want."
Chow responded quickly when asked if he thought Craft would take the loss personally.
"He should. He’s the leader of the group. He needs to take responsibility."