Bruins in the Gutter, Not Bowl

UCLA lost a game Saturday night and the chance for so much as a winning season, seeing even that scaled-down goal disappear in another terrible showing and a 33-7 loss to Arizona before 42,612 at the Rose Bowl.

Many of those fans were gone by early in the fourth quarter, beaten out of Pasadena only by the Bruins, a once-proud team that failed for the third consecutive game to score in double figures and for the second week in a row to show any gains on defense. They enter a bye week at 3-6 overall and in last place in the Pacific 10 at 1-5, then finish against Washington and USC, a victory over their cross-town rival at the Coliseum the only incentive that remains now that the chance for six wins and a bowl bid is gone.

It went in the most predictable of manners too. An offensive line that again couldn’t initiate a ground game or provide protection, with Cory Paus, Drew Bennett and Ryan McCann getting sacked nine times. A defense that got shredded. An injury list that grew.

It also went with contrasts. Arizona’s Trung Canidate had 148 yards rushing, his seventh consecutive game in triple digits. UCLA had minus-31 yards on the ground, its first game with negative yards since Oct. 10, 1992, mostly because Paus was sacked seven times and lost 56 yards on the sacks. The leading Bruin running back, Keith Brown, had only 20 yards on eight carries, while DeShaun Foster had two carries for zero net yards in his return to the lineup.

There was brief hope, but nothing else. Paus had completed only nine of 28 passes for 81 yards two weeks earlier against California and was pulled in the third quarter the game before after going seven of 15 for 95 and taking three sacks coaches thought he should have avoided with a quicker trigger, so the start this time was particularly encouraging. On the first play from scrimmage, Paus bounced out of the pocket to avoid the rush and spotted fullback Durell Price down the left sideline.

The resulting 34-yard gain was his longest since Oct. 9 against Oregon, after doing no better than 33 in Corvallis and 13 versus Cal. When he hit Freddie Mitchell two plays later for another 19 yards, Mitchell doing his part by toeing the right sideline to stay in bounds, the Bruins quickly had first and goal at the Arizona seven. It was a stark contrast to the events of the previous two weeks.

And then came the reminders, just as quick.

Brown went into left tackle for no gain. Foster, in his first carry after sitting out the Cal and Oregon State games because of a sprained ankle, gained two. A blown center exchange forced Paus to fall for a two-yard loss. The great chance for a touchdown gone, the Bruins instead went for a chip shot of a field goal, but the 25-yard attempt by Chris Griffith was blocked.

The team that had so much difficulty scoring the previous two weeks--the average drive against Cal and Oregon State, not counting two possessions ended by halftime, was only 15.4 yards--had just wasted an ideal opportunity. Few would come again.

The Bruins did score on their next try when Paus connected with Brad Melsby for a 44-yard touchdown, a drive that also included Paus eluding pressure and finding Melsby for 18 yards. So much for the offensive explosion.

A UCLA punt followed, and then an attempt to shake things up. Paus began the next series, but Bennett was sent in for the second play, a move that had been planned all week and was not another benching for the starter. Recalling how the option worked well last season in Tucson, Coach Bob Toledo sent in the better runner, got one incompletion and then a six-yard gain on the option from Bennett. And then Paus went back in.

The Bruins tried again in the second quarter. Paus started the drive, Bennett entered for the second play, ran the option for three yards, then went back out. Paus threw an incompletion, and the possession was over. So much for keeping the Wildcats on their heels.

The Arizona offense, meanwhile, produced.

Staying with Keith Smith at quarterback the entire first half, the Wildcats got a 31-yard field goal from Sean Keel to get on the board in the opening quarter and then scores on three of the next four possessions to take control. Two were touchdowns--a three-yard run by Trung Canidate and a three-yard toss from Smith to Brandon Manumaleuna--and another was a 33-yard kick by Keel.

That made it 20-7 at halftime, by which time the Bruin defense had already given up 301 yards, including 237 through the air as the secondary was picked apart. Arizona (6-3, 3-2) averaged a staggering 8.7 yards every first down, meaning it rarely had to live first down to first down to sustain a drive, and scored all four times it reached the red zone.

What remained for the Bruins from there was not only to mount a comeback, but more prominently, given recent events, to avoid an embarrassing finish. Reaching double digits on the scoreboard would be a start, but so inspired were they by the thought of a second-half rally that could keep slim bowl hopes alive that they totaled all of 26 yards in the third quarter. And it took a 31-yard pass from Paus to tight end Mike Seidman on the final play of the period just to avoid negative yardage for this 15 minutes.

Arizona had 187 yards in the third. It also had two more touchdowns to turn the game into a rout, a 19-yard run by Canidate and a 48-yard sprint by Lance Briggs. That made it 33-7 heading into the final period.

And the beaten-up Bruin defense took more hits. One starter, linebacker Robert Thomas, did not play because of a concussion suffered against Oregon State, forcing Tony White to move from outside to the middle and putting senior Ali Abdul Azziz in the opening lineup for the first time as a Bruin. Matters worsened when Ken Kocher’s left ankle collided with the helmet of another player with 6 1/2 minutes left in the first period, ending his night.

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At a Loss

UCLA’s defeat Saturday was the Bruins’ third in a row, their first three-game losing streak since dropping six consecutive games in 1994. Here’s a look at the streaks:

1999

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Date Opponent Score Saturday Arizona 33-7 Oct. 23 at Oregon State 55-7 Oct. 16 California 17-0

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1994

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Sept. 17 at Nebraska 49-21 Sept. 24 Washington State 21-0 Oct. 1 at Washington 37-10 Oct. 8 at California 26-7 Oct. 15 Oregon State 23-14 Oct. 22 at Arizona 34-24

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