STANFORD, Calif. — Many players of the UCLA football team left Foster Field at Stanford Stadium with their heads held high following the Bruins’ 24-10 loss to the Stanford Cardinal.
But it wasn’t out of confidence. It reflected no determination or remembrance of a game well played.
No, the Bruins looked up at the celebrating Stanford crowd, wondering what could have been. In front of 50,000-plus in the bleachers and thousands more watching the nationally televised game at home, UCLA came up short time and time again.
“Games like this you want to win so bad,” said redshirt sophomore quarterback Brett Hundley. “That’s really all I can say. We’ll have another opportunity.”
There will be No. 2 Oregon next Saturday and a top-25 Washington team in November, but those opportunities to secure a big-game victory were there for the taking today.
The secondary missed its chance with just over seven minutes left to play in the third quarter. Sophomore cornerback Ishmael Adams came within inches of knocking away a one-handed, highlight reel catch in the end zone by Stanford wide receiver Kodi Whitfield that gave the Cardinal a 10-3 lead.
The defensive line missed out just a drive later. Senior defensive end Cassius Marsh pulled at Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney’s leg on third and goal and looked to stop the 226-pound workhorse, but the replay failed to generate enough evidence to confirm the goal line stop, and the Cardinal extended the lead by a touchdown.
For the UCLA offense, which compiled a season-low 266 total yards, the shortcomings persisted all afternoon.
Midway through the third quarter, Hundley misfired on a pass up the left sideline, missing redshirt senior Shaquelle Evans, who had a step on his man. Instead of hitting his target in stride for a big gain, Hundley just underthrew the ball and surrendered an interception to safety Jordan Richards, setting up a No. 13 Stanford (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12) score.
On the ground, the Bruins’ plan of attack didn’t amount to much either. UCLA mustered just 2.7 yards per carry, setting the tone for an offensive performance that offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone likened to an automobile with a busted battery.
“Just couldn’t get the friggin’ car out of the starting gate,” Mazzone said. “We had that sucker gassed up and we were stepping on the gas and couldn’t get things going. That’s not how we are as an offense. We’re not three yards and a cloud of dust.”
While failing to start their offense’s engine, the Bruins reached the point of turnover on two separate occasions, both interceptions from Hundley to Richards. Those and several false start flags called on an injured UCLA offensive line resulted in seven of the Bruins’ 13 offensive drives ending in three plays or fewer.
“We really just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot,” Hundley said. “Once you get out of sync and you get into the first and 12 and all that plus-10 stuff, it’s hard to call plays. Penalties kill us. Penalties will kill us.”
The No. 9 Bruins (5-1, 2-1) expressed plenty of disappointment following their first loss of the season, but said it lacked the finality of their loss to Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship game in the same place last November.
“I think there was kind of the end of the road as far as how the season went last year,” said senior linebacker Anthony Barr of last season’s Pac-12 title game. “We knew we weren’t going to the Rose Bowl (in 2012), and now we know we still have the opportunity to (play for a Rose Bowl berth).”
Despite their best start since 2005, despite their national title hopes that remained steady through this morning, the Bruins looked up to the stands, pondering if next year is finally the year.
“There’s a process to building something,” said coach Jim Mora. “There’s a process to going through a season. Today, we weren’t good enough.”