UCLA may tighten rotation at running back and receiver after disheartening loss against Stanford

Dropped passes and an inert running game are ongoing themes of the UCLA offense.

Too many players making the same mistakes may no longer be.

Bruins Coach Jim Mora pledged Monday to tighten the rotation at running back and receiver after a review of UCLA’s 22-13 loss to Stanford showed his team squandered “probably a hundred” yards in the running game.

“There were some enormous holes that were not hit,” said Mora, whose team generated only 77 yards rushing and also was beset by two dropped passes in the third quarter. “We’re going to start dialing it back on how many guys we play at running back and receiver and get specific guys in there for specific things.”

The Bruins have spread their carries fairly evenly among tailbacks Bolu Olorunfunmi, Soso Jamabo and Nate Starks, an approach that Mora said would change Saturday night against Arizona at the Rose Bowl.

“You’ll still see all three,” Mora said, “but you’ll see less of two and more of one.”

Mora would not specify which of the tailbacks would receive the increased workload.

Jamabo has averaged a team-leading 4.8 yards a carry this season, but Olorunfunmi was the tailback who was given the final seven carries in the fourth quarter against Stanford. Olorunfunmi cut outside for 23 yards, gaining a first down as the Bruins tried to run out the clock, but was held to two yards on each of his final two carries and UCLA eventually had to punt.

Olorunfunmi has averaged 4.1 yards a carry, Starks 2.5. Mora vowed that the productivity of his tailbacks would drastically improve.

“I think we’re going to see some major breakthroughs here,” he said.

Kennedy Polamalu suggested after the game that his dual duties as UCLA’s offensive coordinator and running backs coach had diverted his attention from the running game, but Mora said Monday that Polamalu would be “as involved with the running backs as he’s ever been going forward.”

Center Scott Quessenberry said there was miscommunication between the offensive line and the running backs in terms of where plays were supposed to develop. Mora pinned part of the blame on the coaches, saying they needed to better teach players how to execute a game plan that he called “as sound as can be.”

The Bruins also intend to take a less-is-more approach with their receivers after cycling through a slew of them in recent weeks. Fourteen players caught passes against Nevada Las Vegas, 12 against Brigham Young and nine against Stanford.

Highly touted freshman Theo Howard may be among the receivers to fall out of the rotation after struggling this month with a play designed for him against BYU.

“When that happens, as a coach, you’re taken aback a little bit and say, ‘OK, maybe we’re giving him too much, maybe we need to slow it down for him,’” Mora said. “There’s no doubt that he’s got ability, but playing at this level with the amount of talent on the field and the speed, it’s just different, it’s harder. It’s a lot harder.”

Remembering to forget

As crushing as their defeat against Stanford was, the Bruins don’t want to totally forget about the Cardinal.

Their hope is to see them again in the Pac-12 Conference championship game.

“We plan on doing it,” UCLA receiver Kenneth Walker III said.

That will entail quickly moving past a loss that Walker labeled as difficult as any he has experienced in his five years with the team. Mora said his players were “as down as I’ve ever seen this group” after the game but had rebounded by Sunday.

Mora said the Bruins made a pact that “we were going to put our smiles back on our faces and we were going to reignite the enthusiasm. We were going to put that loss behind us and we were going to look forward and I felt them start to come back alive.”

Quick hits

Mora said that defensive tackle Eli Ankou, who left the game against Stanford because of an elbow injury, would be “touch and go” for the Arizona game, with his status depending on swelling and pain management. … UCLA’s game at Arizona State on Oct. 8 will start at 7:30 p.m. PDT and be televised by ESPN or ESPN2.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch