BERKELEY “”mdash; It has become an increasingly unsettling trend for the UCLA football team. Early offensive ineptitude, a defense that is left on the field for too long and in short-field situations, and an inability to consistently finish games strong.
All three attributes were clearly evident in the Bruins’ (3-5, 2-3 Pac-10) deflating 41-20 loss to California (5-2, 3-1) at Memorial Stadium in front of 64,653 on Saturday.
The loss erased the good feelings from last week’s come-from-behind win at home against Stanford and leaves a bad taste in the players’ and coaches’ mouths heading into the bye week.
“(Cal) closed the deal, and when the game was in question at the beginning of the fourth quarter they played much better than we did in the deciding moments of the game,” coach Rick Neuheisel said.
The game was close early in the fourth quarter. With 12:26 left in the game, kicker Georgio Tavecchio kicked a 42-yard field goal to push the Cal lead to 20-13.
On the next possession, with the offense unable to get anything going and facing a fourth-and-23, Bruin punter Aaron Perez attempted a fake punt. Perez found a wide-open Courtney Viney running down the sideline and completed a pass, yet the ball was slightly under thrown and Viney came up a yard short of capturing the first down.
On the very next play, Cal called a flea flicker for a 53-yard touchdown to Nyan Boateng for a two-touchdown lead, essentially putting the game out of reach.
“It’s my fault,” Neuheisel said of the fake punt.
When the quarter ended, the Bears had scored 24 points and turned what had been a close game into another disheartening defeat for the Bruins.
“Seventeen to 13 to start the fourth (quarter),” offensive coordinator Norm Chow said. “We have a chance, and it just fell apart.”
One of the glaring negatives from the game was the recurring trouble of running the football.
On Saturday, the Bruins rushed 22 times and gained just 16 yards. Freshman Derrick Coleman rushed four times for 6 yards. Senior Kahlil Bell rushed six times for 5 yards. Neuheisel said that the biggest issue is the offensive line being unable to move the opposing defensive linemen and create running room.
“Everybody has to raise their hand in terms of who’s responsible,” Neuheisel said. “We all work at it, we all try.”
While the defense was able to keep the game close heading into the fourth quarter, it was continually put in short-field situations due to quarterback Kevin Craft’s four interceptions and the general struggles of the offense.
Yet, according to defensive tackle Brian Price, the situation doesn’t matter; they still need to play well defensively.
“It’s football; you gotta go out there and play,” Price said. “Whatever happens, happens. You gotta go out there and play every play one at a time.”
Craft did not help the defense, throwing an interception on the first offensive play of the game, and two interceptions returned for Cal touchdowns. However, defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said that there is no feeling of frustration with the offense on the part of the defense.
“I’m going to be totally honest with you, it’s coming from my heart and it’s coming from the defense, there’s no frustration at all on defense with the offense,” Harwell said. “You can’t say that our offense is not doing well. It’s not about that man, this is about defense ““ we do our job. Our job is to hold them down to points, and as long as we do our job, we’re satisfied with defense.”
Going into the bye week, Neuheisel said that they will evaluate the entire team, including Craft. Late in the game, backup quarterback Chris Forcier came into the game and led the Bruins to their only offensive touchdown. Due to the presence of Forcier, the inconsistency of Craft, and the fact that the Bruins are not presently involved in the race for the Pac-10 title, there could be a push to make a change at the quarterback situation.
Chow, however, does not think that a change should be made.
“I don’t think we do anything,” Chow said. “We just stay the course. That’s all we can do. And (Craft) didn’t lose the game. He didn’t play very well, but it wasn’t him that lost the game.”
For Craft, who completed 17 of 35 passes for 206 yards and no touchdowns, the possibility of change does not alter his mentality or preparation heading into the off-week.
“Every week you go in, and you want to improve, you want to do better,” Craft said. “I don’t think this is any different. You go in and you try to improve, regardless of the situation.”
Now, heading into their bye week, the Bruins must prepare to face Oregon State and find a way to finish off games on a consistent basis.
“Unfortunately we haven’t displayed (consistency),” Neuheisel said. “Not saying we don’t, I’m just saying we haven’t displayed it. So, we’ve got to keep working at it. I think there’s a lot of young players that are going to have that ability, but as we grow, we’re going through some growing pains with them.”