Against an uninspiring, injury-plagued Utah team on Saturday, the Bruins took a punch to the mouth early and never recovered, trudging through most of the game to leave Salt Lake City with an ego-shattering 44-6 loss and serious questions about the future of this team. Ҭ
On the seventh play from scrimmage, the Utes (1-2, 0-1 MWC) exposed UCLA’s (2-1, 1-0 Pac-10) leaky secondary for a 53-yard bomb and a 7-0 lead that would prove to be all they needed to dispatch of the lackluster Bruins. “¨
The game started poorly for the visitors, who were in a truly hostile environment for the first time ““ but it only got worse after the first quarter. Though the Bruins were able to hold the Utes at bay for the better part of the first half, the offense could not capitalize on opportunities to put points on the board. “¨
On its first possession, UCLA committed two false start penalties and broke the huddle with 12 men once, forcing the Bruins to settle for a 45-yard Kai Forbath field goal. Ҭ
Three possessions later, in the second quarter, the Bruins took over on Utah’s 36-yard line after Matt Slater forced a fumble. With a chance to take the lead and garner some momentum, the Bruins rushed up the middle twice for a net gain of 1 yard. UCLA then took a third false start of the day, stalling another drive and bringing in Forbath again to kick a 52-yarder.”¨
Despite the Bruins’ mistakes, they still had a shot in the second half, only down 14-6 at the break.”¨
However, one play essentially sealed the game for the Utes. On first and 10 from their own 48, Ben Olson went deep downfield to Marcus Everett, who reeled it in and dove for the end zone. Everett didn’t count on Robert Johnson knocking the ball out of his hands, and he fumbled through the back of the end zone for a Utah touchback.
The Utes made the Bruins pay seven plays later on a 7-yard touchdown ““ their first completed pass to a tight end this season.”¨
“If we got a chance to score on that drive, it might’ve changed the momentum of the game,” coach Karl Dorrell said. “But you know what? We’ve got to make those plays. We’ve got to coach better. We’ve got to play better.””¨
Defensively, UCLA was visibly baffled by the Utes’ multiple looks, dual quarterback system and trickery. On several occasions, the Utes found open receivers with no defender within 10-15 yards.
“We knew coming in that they were going to do misdirections, trick plays,” defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said. “We knew that they were going to give us everything. It was just too bad that we couldn’t sustain (our defense). There were parts of the game that I thought we played pretty good defense. “¦ We’ve got to be able to come and answer the bell all the time, and we didn’t do that.””¨
The Bruins gave up 115 yards on the ground to Darrell Mack ““ Utah’s first 100-yard rusher since the Emerald Bowl in 2005 ““ and were not prepared for third-string quarterback Corbin Louks as a running threat out of the backfield. The true freshman Louks had not played a down of college football before Saturday. “¨
“We knew we were going to get their best shot, and they came out and they give it to us,” defensive end Bruce Davis said. “We didn’t play our style of football today. We just got beat, there’s no other way around that. They just came out with nothing to lose, and they wanted it a little more.””¨
It had been 34 years since the Utes beat a team ranked as high as the Bruins at home in Salt Lake, and, for UCLA, the 38-point pasting poses more questions than it answers. Ҭ
“This season’s not lost,” cornerback Rodney Van said. “One-loss teams go to great bowl games. The manner of this loss is not what we would have wanted, but it’s an eye opener. It allows us to get back to the drawing board and know that we can’t underestimate any team.””¨
How the Bruins respond Saturday at home against Washington (2-1, 0-0) should be the biggest indicator of what kind of character this team has and whether they can put Saturday’s embarrassment behind them. “¨
“We’re all in this thing together,” Walker said. “Nobody played well today. I just know it’s only three games. We still believe we have a good football team, so we’ve got to go back and look at all this stuff and get ready for Washington.”