UCLA football players and coaches have started to notice the pattern.
The Bruins’ defense keeps the team close for the first portion of games, but the offense cannot catch up.
That was the story once again Saturday at the Rose Bowl. UCLA’s defense stymied Oregon State for most of the first half, but the offense found no rhythm or success, and the Bruins (3-6, 2-4 Pac-10) fell 34-6 to the Beavers (6-3, 5-1).
Coach Rick Neuheisel addressed the trend after the loss and said the defense can sometimes feel demoralized.
“I address it all the time,” Neuheisel said. “It’s certainly a risk when defensively you’re playing well and offensively you’re struggling. It’s a very, very dangerous thing to have happen, even though it’s understandable. And that’s what I talked to the team about, we can’t be deflectors.”
UCLA players said there is no divide in the locker room.
“We have to do a lot of corrections on our own behalf; we put the pressure on ourselves, we can’t worry about the offense,” safety Rahim Moore said. “We know we can’t point any fingers.”
Wide receiver Taylor Embree said that there is no negativity or argument between the offense and defense.
But he said the offense knows it needs to keep fighting and improving.
On Saturday, the Bruins couldn’t find any answer for the Beavers’ dominating defensive front; they gained only 48 yards rushing, averaging just 1.8 yards per carry. Neuheisel said his team was handled at the point of attack.
The Bruin passing game was bleak, too. UCLA converted on only two of its 14 third-down conversion attempts, and quarterback Kevin Craft threw two costly interceptions and fumbled once.
“It speaks for itself,” Craft said. “The defense is playing unbelievable, and it was evident today. Look at the halftime score. The defense is playing about as good as we could ask of them.”
The offensive line seems to be at the center of the Bruins’ problems. Oregon State sacked Craft three times and pressured him constantly.
On one play Craft tried to sprint away from a host of Beaver defenders but fumbled the football.
“Once we execute we are a pretty good team, but we haven’t shown it just yet,” tailback Kahlil Bell said.
UCLA played without offensive linemen Scott Glicksberg and Micah Reed, who were serving one-game suspensions for violating Athletic Department rules.
Defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker dismissed concerns about the defense’s frustration.
“We’re not going to point fingers, and it’s not like we’re the 1985 Chicago Bears either,” Walker said, referring to one of the best defenses in NFL history. “We’ve got to keep worrying about ourselves.
“We’re here to teach; we’ll just go back and try to clean up some of our own mistakes.”
STILL ALIVE: This latest loss, the Bruins’ sixth of the season, pushes UCLA to the brink of elimination from bowl eligibility.
UCLA must now win its final three games, next week at Washington, at Arizona State and against USC, in order to reach the postseason.
“These are money games; we’re playing for prizes,” linebacker Reggie Carter said. “Every year I’ve been here we’ve been to a bowl game, so that’s a lot of motivation, to think “˜wow, first year, we may not have an extra game.’
“That’s kind of awkward, being home Christmas break. … Everybody else is still playing football, and I’m not.”
The Bruins lost in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2007 and the Emerald Bowl in 2006. The school’s last bowl victory came almost three years ago, in 2005, when the Bruins beat Northwestern 50-38 in the Sun Bowl.
Tailback Kahlil Bell said the burden now falls on the team’s veterans, who have to keep younger players focused even though the Bruins have lost any chance at a conference title.
“It starts with senior leadership,” he said. “We can’t let the rest of this team go in the tank.”