UCLA’s Jim Mora identifies areas in which Bruins need to improve

UCLA Coach Jim Mora rolled out a four-point plan to his team Sunday.

— Eliminate costly penalties.

— Tighten up defensively.

— Fewer third-and-long plays.

— Run the ball to run out the clock.

Easy, right?

“There are hundreds and hundreds of details that go into that,” Mora said.

There was little doubt that the Bruins have detail work to do after going to Virginia, where the offense sputtered, and playing Memphis at home, where the defense crumbled.

UCLA is 2-0 after a 42-35 wipe-the-brow victory over Memphis on Saturday, but dropped from No. 11 to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll. Mora is no poll-sitter, but he admitted there was “urgency” with the Bruins heading out to play consecutive road games against Texas and Arizona State.

“We have to fix things now,” Mora said. “These are younger guys and, sometimes, they don’t always understand how fast life goes.”

The offense appeared to work out kinks against Memphis. Quarterback Brett Hundley tied a UCLA record with 33 completions in a game where Mora said “we counted six drops.” Hundley had 396 yards passing and tossed three touchdown passes. Paul Perkins cut and slashed his way to 98 yards. Thomas Duarte, Devin Fuller and Jordan Payton made money catches.

But the positive thoughts more or less end there.

The Bruins had penalties on special teams that cost them opportunities. That included one on a botched fake punt try that would have given them the ball at the Memphis 29 in the fourth quarter.

The defense could not bury the Tigers, letting leads slip away three times, and spent much of the game flailing at ballcarriers.

“That was a surprising thing,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “That’s not like us. We have to find ways to get our guys in better positions to make it easier on them out there.”

The offense, which rolled up 540 yards, still found itself in second-and-long and third-and-long situations too often, Mora said.

“Sometimes you get away with it, but that’s no way to make a living,” Mora said.

But Mora’s concern at the end of the game was the running game.

Perkins had a solid day.

“When he runs, he looks like he’s going to hurt you if you tackle him,” Mora said.

Yet, the Bruins got the ball back with 2 minutes 25 seconds left leading by a touchdown and could not run out the clock.

“We need to end the game with the ball in our hands in that situation,” Mora said.

Catche(s) of the day

The Bruins used two receivers Saturday who were invisible against Virginia.

Duarte, bothered by a hamstring injury in training camp, had four receptions for 110 yards. That included touchdown grabs of 14 and 33 yards.

Kenneth Walker III, who sat out last season after back surgery, hauled in a 62-yard touchdown reception.

Duarte, 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, was a problem creator.

“We can exploit a lot of things because of his size,” Hundley said. “He may not have 4.2 speed in the 40, but he gets open.”

Walker displayed speed, and had better concentration.

“I was just running and he chucked the ball down field,” Walker said. “In my head, I was going, ‘I have to catch it. I have no other choice.’ ”

He juggled the ball, but held on.

“Coming off the back problem, I think I deserved that one,” Walker said. “I’ve worked hard. There is a lot more coming.”

Injury report

Safety Randall Goforth suffered a right shoulder injury and left the game Saturday. Mora said that Goforth was being evaluated but was questionable to doubtful for the Texas game. Goforth has had repeated trouble with his left shoulder.

Receiver Eldridge Massington suffered a sprained ankle, Mora said.