If the Bruins could’ve stopped the Aggies and the Cardinal late in the game, they’d be 5-0.
If they could just put together offense, defense and special teams in one game, they’d likely be a top-10 team, sitting atop the Pac-12 South.
But instead, they’re 3-2, 1-1 in the conference with the Colorado Buffs leading the way in the division.
After the loss against the Cardinal, sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen said the College Football Playoffs weren’t off the table for the Bruins – their destiny was still in their hands if they could perform against their remaining opponents.
After the win over Arizona on Saturday, Rosen and coach Jim Mora said the “ifs” were mounting and it was time to get rid of them.
“At some point, it’s got to start happening now,” Rosen said. “There’s not much time left.”
[Gameday page: Full coverage of UCLA’s big win over Arizona]
UCLA’s defense has been clicking since traveling to BYU two weeks ago, limiting playmakers like Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Arizona’s Brandon Dawkins and Khalil Tate. But the offense has been mired in inconsistency.
Earlier games were justified as a “new offense” under offensive coordinator Kennedy Polamalu, but five weeks into the season, the Bruins have run out of excuses.
“We got (to) start clicking now,” Rosen said. “The new offense isn’t an excuse because it isn’t new anymore.”
Rosen and company put up two touchdowns in the first quarter, but stalled in the second quarter. The quarterback completed just two of his 14 passes and the offense had just 11 yards on the ground, all from junior running back Nate Starks, before ending the half ahead by seven points.
“We were thinking too much and too uptight.” Starks said. “At halftime, we came together as a team. We know we’re a good offense, but we had to come out.”
Mora wouldn’t reveal what he said to the team at halftime – “What is said in the locker room stays in the locker room” – but wide receivers redshirt senior Kenneth Walker and freshman Theo Howard said the head coach “chewed” them out and “push(ed) us and (got) us where we needed to be.”
Out of the half, the Bruin offense scored on all five of its drives, putting 31 points on the board.
Howard had the first touchdown run of his career and Walker added his second of the game midway through the fourth quarter to put pressure on the Arizona offense.
But the defense, which limited the Wildcats to just seven points in the first half, gave up 17 points and more than 150 yards after Tate, Arizona’s quarterback, entered the game.
In his first game, the freshman threw two touchdowns and ran for 79 more yards in a quarter and a half of play.
“I didn’t know a lot about (Tate) until today, that’s someone else’s headache now.” said defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. “But if you’re going to be a great defense, there are a couple things you can’t do. You can’t give up big plays, you can’t miss tackles. It’s a simple formula, but that’s what it is.”
Game to game, and even quarter to quarter, UCLA hasn’t played a complete game of football. But the Bruins haven’t let lapses on offense and defense detract them from the mental aspect of the game.
“There is no special recipe,” Rosen said. “Our motto is PSW: power, speed and will. We have the first two. The third is that intangible we’re fighting and striving for.”
[Related: Bruin linebacker Kenny Young marks his presence in defense]
UCLA will face another Arizona school next week, traveling to Tempe to play Arizona State. A win will bump the team up from third in the Pac-12 South and one step closer to the Pac-12 Championship title match.
“If,” Mora said, “If, which is a horrible word, but if we could just find a way to put it together as a football team, we could be pretty dynamic. We are trying. Our guys are trying and they care. It’s important to them. As a coaching staff, we are looking for answers everywhere. The big word is if. If. If. If. We’ll just get back to it at Arizona State and hope that we can eliminate that big ‘if.’”