UCLA faces troubled Texas

So, is it OK to mess with Texas if Texas is a mess?

UCLA’s football team is about to find out.

The Bruins and the Longhorns meet Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, and both teams have issues.

UCLA is 2-0, but victories over Virginia and Memphis have come by a total of 15 points and the Bruins have slid in the polls — they are No. 12 in the Associated Press media poll this week after opening at No. 7.

Texas, 1-1, wishes it had UCLA’s problems.

Leveraging Coach Mack Brown into retirement last winter did not end the upheaval in Austin. Texas officials made a play for Alabama’s Nick Saban, and got turned down. They tried to woo UCLA’s Jim Mora, who also declined. Enter Charlie Strong, who was a success at Louisville.

Change has come with what might be described as Strong-arm tactics.

Eight players have been have been dismissed from the team; at least three more — offensive tackles Desmond Harrison and Kennedy Estelle and running back Daje Johnson — are suspended; and safety Josh Turner’s status for Saturday’s game is unknown.

So much for any honeymoon period. “I don’t even know if I ever had one,” Strong joked this week. “Did I ever have one?”

Through it all, the coach has remained steadfast.

“We’re not going to become them,” Strong said of his players, “They’re going to become us, and that’s just the way it is.”

Texas has also been beset by injuries. The Longhorns (will be without quarterback David Ash (concussion syndrome) and center Dominic Espinosa (ankle), and probably will be missing Jaxon Shipley (head), their best receiver.

With three new starters on the offensive line last week against Brigham Young, Texas was limited to 82 yards rushing, and quarterback Tyrone Swoopes, another first-time starter, was sacked three times. The 41-7 loss was the Longhorns’ worst in Austin since a 66-3 shellacking dished out by UCLA in 1997.

“It was an embarrassing performance and not an indication how good our football team is,” Strong said. “All we can do is put it behind us and bounce back.”

Easier said than done under a magnifying glass.

UCLA center Jake Brendel, who played at East High in Plano, Texas, said the importance of football in the state was easily quantified.

“There would be 10 Longhorn fans, then one [Texas] A&M fan, then one [Texas] Tech fan, at least where I lived,” he recalled.

UCLA’s problems are relatively minor in comparison to those of Texas. The Bruins’ offense labored in a 28-20 victory at Virginia and the defense struggled in a 42-35 victory over Memphis at the Rose Bowl.

“Well, they may have struggled, but they ended up winning the game,” Strong said.

Mora is not convinced the Bruins will have it any easier against Texas, no matter how much tumult the Longhorns have endured.

“We try to never look at a team and say, ‘Oh, they’re down,’ ” Mora said. “We try to take the emotion out of it. We try to be objective and look at the scheme and at the talent.”

His assessment: Texas is not toast.

“I think they are a dangerous team,” Mora said. “You don’t want to give them any light. We’ve got to go in there and start fast and not worry about their psyche.”

chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter: @cfosterlatimes