Jordan Payton outlines needed changes for UCLA’s football team

Receiver Jordan Payton stared into the bright sunlight at Spaulding Field on Monday, with the media staring back, and laid out how things have to change for the UCLA football team.

“We got to get rid of all those mistakes, the techniques, the errors, the turnovers, the wrong routes,” Payton said. “Everything that is causing us to slow down. I don’t know what’s going on the defense or anywhere else, but I can say from my perspective, what I can handle myself, is that I have to play better. The receivers have to play better. That’s definitely where I would start.”

Consecutive losses produce a lot of soul searching. The Bruins spent two weekends at the Rose Bowl getting beat down by Utah and Oregon, leaving UCLA with a 4-2 record overall, 1-2 in Pac-12 Conference play.

“It feels like the world is against you when you lose two in a row; it feels like you’ve lost 10,” Payton said. “It’s two weeks of not winning when you kind of got used to winning here. Now you have to understand what is going wrong, work in practice, take it to the field and try to get rid of the sour taste in our mouths.”

UCLA lost consecutive games to Stanford and Oregon last season and did not recover in the standings, finishing second in the Pac-12 South, two games behind Arizona State.

“A loss is a loss, the magnitude of them may change every week,” Payton said. “Now it’s even more urgent that we get this out of our system. This one hurts a lot. You put in a lot of time and effort into understanding how big that game was, and for us to go out there and play like we did is sad. It’s hard.”

UCLA has lost seven consecutive games to Oregon.

“You have to keep going, keep pushing, keep understanding that there is more to this season,” Payton said. “Now we have to win. Now we have to do everything right. Now our backs are against the wall.”

Unlucky 7

The Bruins have lost seven consecutive games to California at Memorial Stadium. Their last victory there was 28-16 in 1998. In three of the losses, UCLA lost to Bears teams that finished the season with losing records — 3-9 in 2012, 5-7 in 2010 and 3-8 in 2000.

In 2012, California blitzed UCLA, 43-17.

“I remember that game. It was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ ” Payton said. “I think that was the phrase we used up there. It’s some sort of curse we have, I guess.”

Quarterback Brett Hundley was sacked six times and had four passes intercepted in that 2012 game.

“It wasn’t a pretty one,” Hundley said. “This year we’re going to try to change that.”

Something new

Running back Paul Perkins ranks 14th nationally in rushing, averaging 121.7 yards per game. He leads the Bruins with 730 yards rushing.

“Yeah, that’s pretty sweet,” Hundley said.

A year ago injuries and inconsistency left Hundley as the team’s leading rusher with 748 yards. Having a running back on top seemed more natural to him.

“Paul has turned that running back position around,” Hundley said.

Quick hits

UCLA offensive linemen Alex Redmond (ankle) and Simon Goines (knee) have improved, and both went through some drills before the Oregon game. But neither suited up for the game and they remain doubtful for this week. … UCLA’s game at Colorado will start at 11 a.m. PDT and will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.