In the end, the beaten and bruised UCLA football team ““ with a roster of walking-wounded, with a coach who may not be around much longer, with an offense that has to scratch and claw its way to simply get first downs ““ could only come so close.
But oh-so-close they came.
The Bruins (5-5, 4-3 Pac-10) lost 24-20 to No. 9 Arizona State (9-1, 6-1) on Saturday. The game was marked not so much by what the Sun Devils were able to keep the Bruins from doing, as by the fact that the Bruins simply did not have the personnel to pull off the upset that seemed well within their grasp.
There was walk-on Chris Meadows, thrust into service because of a depleted receiving corps, who dropped an important pass from fellow wide receiver Brandon Breazell that would have put the Bruins deep in ASU territory midway through the third quarter.
There was quarterback Osaar Rasshan, who six weeks ago was himself a receiver, throwing an errant pass that was picked off in the end zone late in the fourth quarter when the Bruins desperately needed no mistakes.
If Meadows had been replaced by injured Marcus Everett, or if Rasshan’s pass had instead been thrown by Ben Olson, the game may have turned out quite differently.
Instead, the Bruins made do with what they had, and those players were just not quite up to the task.
“Offensively, Osaar did a nice job with his first start under his belt,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “I know there were some rough times at moments in the game, but he played with a lot of courage. I thought Craig Sheppard did the same thing. We had some guys offensively who were battling, just trying to make plays.
“We really wanted to win this football game and felt we had a great opportunity to do that.”
Sheppard is another walk-on who was forced into duty because of injuries and who had a pretty good game, rushing for 56 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.
“Those guys played great,” linebacker Christian Taylor said. “They played great. Osaar played a great game, and (Sheppard) played a great game. You guys can give them titles like “˜fourth-string’ or “˜fifth-string’ but they’re good football players, and they showed you today.”
Fortunately for the Bruins, they have a bye week and thus a little time to rest up and get some players back before their next game.
But unfortunately for the Bruins, that game will be against No. 2 Oregon. Then follows crosstown rival No. 11 USC.
“I mean, it’s whatever,” safety Chris Horton said. “Bring ’em on. We’re all football players. We don’t really say, “˜Oh, it’s Oregon, it’s USC’; they’re just another team. They’re good teams, but all that doesn’t matter. It’s still a game of football.”
The Bruins need one win to gain bowl eligibility, but that win will either have to come against the No. 2 team in the nation at home or at the Coliseum against USC, where the Bruins haven’t won since 1997.
It’s a tall order, but gaining bowl eligibility is not, in the strictest sense, their No. 1 goal at the moment.
It’s simply trying to find enjoyment out of a season that appears to be falling down around their ears.
“We’re not playing for a Pac-10 championship anymore,” Taylor said. “You play this game because you love it. That’s all we can do now. I’m trying to enjoy this season as much as I can.
“If all these guys can walk away 20 years from now and say, “˜I gave everything I had,’ if everyone can say that, then that’s success. If you can be content with yourself and proud of yourself because of what you did, then that’s enough.”