At the beginning of the month, the UCLA football team was able to come away with a victory over a ranked opponent at the Rose Bowl by defeating Tennessee.
On Saturday against No. 25 Fresno State (3-1), the Bruins (1-3, 0-1 Pac-10) had the opportunity to do so again.
But a costly fourth-quarter fumble in the red zone and a methodical Fresno State drive that ate up the final 8:55 of the game thwarted the Bruins’ attempt to end a two-game losing streak.
The end result was a deflating 36-31 loss in front of 73,963 at the Rose Bowl.
“It hurts a lot,” defensive tackle Brigham Harwell said in a somber locker room after the game. “Every loss hurts a lot.”
On a day when a Bruin offense that had managed just three offensive points in the past two games exploded for 384 total yards and 31 points, it was the defense that proved to be the team’s weakness.
Following Derrick Coleman’s fumble on Fresno State’s 10-yard line, Fresno State took over with 8:55 left in the game.
The Bulldog offense never came off the field.
In that final drive, the Bulldogs gained six first downs, were one-for-three on third down conversions, and converted on a 4th-and-1 with 2:53 left in the game, driving 85 yards to seal the Bruins’ fate.
For a unit that has carried the Bruins for much of the season thus far, the inability of the team to get the Bulldogs off the field was disappointing.
“Our defense, we didn’t execute,” Harwell said. “We did some good things but at the end, we didn’t come off the field, we didn’t make the big play when we had to. That’s what happened: we didn’t make a play when we had to.”
Despite the final outcome, coach Rick Neuheisel said he was encouraged by his team’s performance, especially on offense.
Quarterback Kevin Craft, who threw for just 81 yards in last week’s loss to Arizona, had his most complete performance of the season, completing 11 of 20 passes for 150 yards, one touchdown, and no interceptions.
Craft said that he felt as comfortable in the offense as he has all season. In addition to making plays with his arm, Craft was able to escape pressure and extend drives with his legs, rushing for 54 yards.
“Craft was definitely very comfortable back there today,” wide receiver Taylor Embree said. “He made some big plays, especially with his feet.
“Coaches have been harping on him to make plays with his feet because he can run. He let the receivers go up and make a few plays today. You could tell there was a confidence about him today.”
Another sign of improvement came from the Bruin rushing attack which gained a season-high 234 yards and accounted for two touchdowns. Freshman running back Coleman led the Bruins in rushing, carrying the ball 10 times for 86 yards.
Senior Kahlil Bell returned after sitting out two games with a high-ankle sprain and gave the Bruins a burst of energy and production, gaining 73 yards on 20 carries as well as two touchdowns.
“That guy is just energy,” right guard Scott Glicksberg said. “You’ll never find a point when that guy is not energized. Half the time people have to tell him to shut up because he’s so ready to go, and he’s so loud and into it and excited about everything.”
Despite the encouraging performance from a long-dormant offense, it was overshadowed by the defensive failures on the final drive of the game.
“It’s unfortunate that this team couldn’t have enjoyed a victory today,” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “I take full responsibility. It’s unfortunate, but our offense got better today, and I feel bad we couldn’t help them.”
At the postgame press conference, Neuheisel continued to expound upon his “relentlessly positive” mantra, a mantra that has become increasingly hard to maintain as the season progresses.
Yet Neuheisel remained adamant in his thinking, reiterating that the team is continuing to improve.
“There’s improvement, and the work ethic and the amount of time and attention that went into the plan, and the effort level that was in practice throughout the week helped us improve even though the outcome didn’t change,” Neuheisel said.
“If we can get that again, we will be a better team next Saturday and hopefully we can get through the barrier that will get us to victory and not stumble again when we get so close.”
For Embree, the wins need to come, and come fast.
“We can’t be satisfied with getting better; we need to get a win.”