Injured Cowan rests in hospital

TUCSON -- Quarterback Patrick Cowan did not accompany the rest of the UCLA team on its flight home.

A school spokesman said Cowan was “resting comfortably” in the emergency room of a hospital, suffering from a collapsed lung.

Cowan was knocked out of the Bruins’ 34-27 loss to Arizona with a concussion sustained in the third quarter.

The team learned of the collapsed lung later, when Cowan was taken to the hospital complaining of discomfort and shortness of breath in the locker room after the game.

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Ossar Rasshan stepped onto the field for the first time as a college quarterback with UCLA trailing, 34-14, and one thought on his mind.

“Take it one play at a time; it’s not coming back all at once,” Rasshan said.

In the end, he nearly brought the Bruins all the way back, though.

Rasshan, who entered the game in Cowan’s place, pulled the Bruins to within a touchdown.

UCLA had the ball one last time, deep in its own territory, but could not pick up a first down.

Rasshan, who is back at his original position after having moved to wide receiver, completed three of 10 passes for 78 yards. He also gained 57 yards rushing.

“I thought the game would move a lot faster than it did,” Rasshan said. “But the fact it didn’t showed I was prepared.”

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With starting tailback Chris Markey twisting an ankle early on, walk-on Craig Sheppard got the first playing time of his career, ending up with eight carries for 28 yards, including a 15-yard gain.

Not that the sophomore seemed overly excited about it.

“I’ve been training two years for this,” he said. “I just tried to go out there and do what I’m supposed to do.”

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Tailback Christian Ramirez (concussion) and tight end Scott Glicksberg (dislocated shoulder) were also knocked out of the game.

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Linebacker Christian Taylor, noting that the Bruins have lost four games to what are considered lesser teams -- Utah, Notre Dame, Washington State and Arizona:

“You know what, though, I am glad we play a good team next week. I don’t want to take anything away from Arizona. They were a good team today, they were better than us. They were the best team we lost to . . . yet.”

The Bruins face sixth-ranked Arizona State next Saturday, then Oregon, then USC.

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Taylor was not happy to be called for roughing the passer late in the game.

“I was two steps away, I can’t take two steps and hit him?” Taylor said. “I’m not a huge fan about overly protecting the quarterback. Guys get the glory playing that position, they should have to take the shots.”

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Coming into the game, UCLA defensive end Bruce Davis talked about wanting to get at Willie Tuitama. If the Arizona quarterback held onto the ball for longer than two seconds, Davis said, “he’s going to be hit.”

As it turned out, Davis sacked him three times and defensive tackle David Carter added another. But Tuitama still had a big day and Arizona proved almost as effective rushing the passer, getting two sacks and knocking out Cowan.

“We blitzed more than ever today,” said linebacker Spencer Larsen, who got one of the sacks. “This is what we want to be doing.”

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Tuitama paused before taking a knee at the end of the game, causing a scuffle. After the play, referee Brian O’Cain forgot to turn off his microphone, so everyone in the stadium heard him admonish Tuitama, “You got to go down, otherwise you’re going to cause a riot.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com

david.wharton@latimes.com